For the match of the 20th round of the RPL "Zenith" and "Rostov" approached not in the best mood.

Both teams started the spring segment unsuccessfully and lost in the 1/8 finals of the Russian Cup to Arsenal and Akhmat, respectively.

The defeat became painful for both, but for different reasons.

If Sergei Semak's wards missed the opportunity to replenish the club museum with another trophy, then their opponents will guarantee themselves a ticket to the Europa League.

Next season, only one team will represent the country in this tournament, and the winner of the national cup will have priority.

Victory in a fundamental confrontation not only made you feel confident, but also strengthened your position in the standings.

Rostov could break into the top 4, and Zenit could keep a comfortable handicap from the closest pursuers.

After 19 rounds, CSKA and Spartak were four and six points behind, respectively, and with a fortunate coincidence of circumstances could get close to the reigning champions.

The rivals did not come up to the full-time confrontation in ideal compositions.

Malcolm was absent due to a knee injury, and Serdar Azmun and Vilmar Barrios had recently recovered from their injuries, so they were not in perfect shape.

At the same time, "Rostov" was in an even more difficult position.

Pavel Mamaev and Kento Hashimoto were in the infirmary, and Roman Eremenko decided to leave the club.

The midfielder terminated the contract for family reasons and returned to Finland.

In a pre-match interview, Karpin himself admitted that this decision of the football player came as a shock to him, and called the departure of the midfielder a loss.

Surely many expected that Zenit, angered by the failure in the Cup and therefore over-motivated, would confidently beat Rostov.

But the first half showed that such assumptions were wrong.

Although the owners looked a little more confident, there was no question of serious superiority.

Karpin's wards did not close and fought on equal terms with the reigning champions.

Mathias Normann was especially zealous, for the first 17 minutes he managed to enter into confrontation with opponents twice.

At first, he played hard against Artyom Dziuba, for which he received a push with his shoulder from the Russian, and then held Wendel.

A scuffle almost broke out on the field, and referee Alexei Matyunin had to reassure the Norwegian with a yellow card.

Zenit more often hit the goal and was also ahead of dangerous moments.

First, Azmun effectively struck from the air after the standard was played, and then performed a dangerous cross on Dziuba.

But the leader of the hosts did not have enough speed.

Already in the second half of the half, “Rostov” began to find itself more often in the wrong half of the field, and a minute before its end he scored an extremely curious goal.

Initially, the episode did not bode well for anything dangerous.

Alexey Kozlov made a discount on Sow with his head, but he could not really adjust to the transfer.

The ball jumped over the front line, but Mikhail Kerzhakov and Douglas Santos not only did not let him leave, but also interfered with each other, as a result of which the projectile was almost in the net.

The Brazilian brushed it off the ribbon, but right on the foot of the striker from Gambia.

However, this was not the end of Kerzhakov's problems.

Already in the seventh minute of the second half, he unsuccessfully stumbled when trying to clear the ball and was injured, because of which he was forced to leave the field.

Andrey Lunev came on as a substitute, whose appearance many expected at the start.

At the same time, for a long time, the goalkeeper had practically no opportunity to prove himself.

The reason is that at the 56th minute the guests were in the minority - Mikhail Osipenko received a red card for a last resort foul.

The defender played hard in a sliding tackle against Azmun not far from the penalty area and went to the room under the stands.

In the majority, as expected, the hosts increased the pace and began to crush the opponent.

For the remaining time, they delivered 14 strikes, four of which reached Sergei Pesyakov.

The Rostov goalkeeper has repeatedly saved his team, but conceded twice in the period from 73rd to 78th minute.

First, Nikolai Poyarkov cut the ball into his own goal, and then Daler Kuzyaev completed the spectacular combination.

The midfielder burst into the penalty area and shot into the far corner.

The Rostov footballers were unhappy with the fact that a few seconds ago their opponents played the standard not on the whistle, but Matyunin did not react.

It seemed that Zenit would calmly bring the matter to victory and beat Rostov for the fourth time in a row.

But in the 89th minute, Sow said his word again.

The Sofia CSKA forward put his foot under the long-range strike of Khoren Bayramyan and caught the reigning champion's goalkeeper by surprise.

In the remaining time, Petersburgers tried to make a pile on the opponent's goal, but he survived and for the first time since August 2017 took points from Gazprom Arena.