The home match of the 6th round of the Champions League group stage between Zenit and Chelsea, on the one hand, had no tournament significance for the Petersburgers.

After an away draw with Malmö, the Russian club lost its chances of getting into the playoffs of the main European Cup, but guaranteed itself participation in the 1/16 finals of the Europa League.

On the other hand, the meeting with the current owner of the trophy was an excellent opportunity for the hosts to slam the door loudly and demonstrate their fighting efficiency at the highest level.

At the same time, it was possible to make a bandwagon to the favorite, who needed a victory in order not to concede the leadership in the group to Juventus.

Therefore, Sergei Semak, before the most important confrontation with Dynamo in the RPL, threw all the strongest into the battle. The only thing was that injured Stanislav Kritsyuk and disqualified Dmitry Chistyakov could not enter the field. In the absence of the latter, the coach decided to move away from his beloved formation with three center-backs and opted for a 4-3-3 formation with Claudinho and Malcolm on the edges of the attack. At the same time, the place at the forefront this time was taken not by Artyom Dziuba, but by Serdar Azmun, who, according to media reports, can change his club registration in winter.

But Chelsea, on the eve of a trip to Russia, lost two key midfielders - N'Golo Kante and Jorginho.

Also Trevo Chaloba, Ben Chilwell and Mateo Kovacic did not fly to St. Petersburg for various reasons.

And Eduard Mendy, Marcos Alonso, Antonio Rudiger, Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech remained in the reserve by the decision of Thomas Tuchel.

But Romelu Lukaku, who had recovered from damage, returned to duty.

Despite all the losses, the guests at the beginning of the match literally crushed the opponent.

They did not have time to play the ball from the center of the field, as they opened the account.

The Londoners succeeded in a quick attack right in the center, which ended in a successful play at the exit of Mikhail Kerzhakov and a corner.

After filing the corner, Andreas Christensen was allowed to make a discount without hindrance, and Timo Werner had to not miss literally from the goal line.

A quick goal put the hosts into a stupor.

In the first minutes, the game did not go well at all, and the ball did not hold.

On the loss, Chelsea immediately turned on high pressure and immediately regained possession.

Quick breakthroughs through the support zone were also surprisingly easy for the blues.

Usually tenacious Vilmar Barrios could not cope with fast opponents.

Then opponents, as a rule, tried to give passes behind Deyan Lovren's back, taking advantage of his slowness.

At this start of the match, it seemed that Zenit had no chances.

But to the credit of the Petersburgers, closer to the middle of the half, they came to their senses and seized the initiative.

And the guests, having distinguished themselves, frankly relaxed.

The first bell was Malcolm's one-on-one.

The Brazilian had a great chance, but ingenuous shot straight into the legs of Kepe Arrisabalage.

After that, moments at the gate of the Spaniard began to arise one after another.

The Russian team fled to counterattacks, taking advantage of the problems of the eminent opponent in defense.

Perhaps, for the first time, Claudinho, who was lost on the field in previous Champions League matches, demonstrated his class in the main European Cup.

He played the team and on the left flank created a lot of problems for Rhys James.

Actually, after his cross, Azmun with his head almost sent the projectile on target.

And shortly before the break, the incredible happened - Zenit scored two goals against Chelsea in less than four minutes.

First, Claudinho struck with his head without a chance for Arrisabalaga, taking advantage of Douglas' neat serve from the left flank.

At the same time, Christensen did not have time for the Brazilian, and Malang Sarr, on the contrary, was delayed with the implementation of an artificial offside position.

Almost immediately, Petersburgers took the lead.

The effective attack started with Wendel's excellent tackle in midfield.

Malcolm immediately threw Azmun into the breakthrough with a cutting pass between the two central defenders, and the Iranian, elegantly beating the goalkeeper, sent the shell on target.

Immediately, the striker could issue a double after another perfect pass from Malcolm, but Arrisabalaga did not allow himself to be thrown.

Unfortunately, the second half began for Zenit with another unpleasant event.

Almost out of the blue, Wendel, who was playing a great match, was injured.

The Brazilian pulled a muscle, trying to catch the ball after Azmun's pass, and was forced to leave the field.

Instead, Semak threw Andrei Mostovoy into the battle, who took his place on the left edge of the attack.

The loss of the Latin American affected the team's game. The hosts again gave up the initiative to the opponent and retreated to the defense. In fact, they were forced to return to a three-center-back formation. Barrios regularly went down to Yaroslav Rakitsky and Lovren. In general, the domestic team coped with the opponent's attacks. All the more offensive was Lukaku's goal in the 62nd minute. This episode clearly demonstrated the level of skill even the Chelsea reservists have. Ross Barkley cut the entire defensive line of the opponent with one pass and brought Werner to a rendezvous with Kerzhakov. The German was not greedy and gave Lukaku a pass to an empty net - 2: 2.

Semak reacted to the incident with another castling.

Tired Rakitsky gave way to Danil Krugovoy.

At the same time, the young Russian went to the left flank of the defense, and Douglas moved to the center.

Tuchel responded by releasing Christian Pulisic and Ziyech, and a little later, Alonso and Havertz.

Substitutions rather helped Zenit.

Active Mostovoy and Krugovaya on the left edge created serious problems for their opponents.

True, the dangerous moment was created thanks to the serve from the right.

Azmun head struck Arrisabalage, but he miraculously managed to fold and saved the team.

And just a couple of minutes later, the Iranian, in an attempt to close the lumbago from the front, twisted his leg and was forced to give way to Dziuba.

Semak also gave time to Alexander Erokhin and Magomed Ozdoev.

It was felt that the Petersburgers were unhappy with the draw and intend to snatch the victory.

But in the 85th minute, they unexpectedly conceded.

And again the irrepressible Werner distinguished himself that evening.

After the transfer of Pulishich, he easily left Karavaev and struck Kerzhakov under the supporting leg.

The judges on the VAR took a short pause to watch the episode for an offside position, but still determined that the German was in the correct position.

However, the last word in this incredible meeting remained with the owners, or rather, the fresh Ozdoev.

Coming as a substitute, he managed to make just a few touches of the ball, but one of them was an assist.

In the fourth minute added by the referee, Magomed, after the removal of Sarr from the penalty line, sent the ball under the crossbar.

Arrisabalaga tried to save the team and even reached for the ball, but could not block his way to the target - 3: 3.

Zenit finished their Champions League performance on a positive note.

The hosts, although miraculously escaped defeat, clearly did not deserve it and could even win if they realized all their chances.

The only fly in the ointment were the injuries of Wendel and Azmun before the game with Dynamo.