Kerzhakov's mistake, Dzyuba's goal and Kuzyaev's crossbar: Zenit lost to Betis in the first match of the 1/16 finals of the Europa League

Zenit approached the first match of the 1/16 finals of the Europa League with Betis with a number of losses.

Firstly, the main goalkeeper Stanislav Krytsyuk was injured.

His replacement, Mikhail Kerzhakov, did not fully recover from the illness, having only played one match at the winter training camp.

And therefore, on the eve of an important European Cup game, Sergei Semak did not rule out that the third goalkeeper, 19-year-old Daniil Odoevsky, could enter the field.

Secondly, the captain and key central defender Vedran Corluka was out of action.

Finally, the leading striker Serdar Azmun left the team.

He was replaced by two forwards: Yuri Alberto and Ivan Sergeev.

The fans were waiting to see if the headquarters would throw one of the newcomers into battle or would bet on the proven Artyom Dzyuba, who, according to rumors, is ready to leave the team in the summer.

The goalkeeper's problem was resolved at the last moment, and Kerzhakov took the place at the last frontier.

But the choice of the field directly indicated that the hosts were going to act from the defense: the four defenders Douglas dos Santos, Yaroslav Rakitsky, Dmitry Chistyakov and Vyacheslav Karavaev in the support zone were called to help Wilmar Barrios and Daler Kuzyaev.

A little higher is Wendel.

In the attack, the stake was placed on the power of Dzyuba, as well as the speed and creativity of Malcolm and Claudinho, who had only recently recovered from injuries.

The caution of the blue-white-blues was not surprising, because Betis looks great on someone else's half of the field.

In the current season, La Liga's wards Manuel Pellegrini scored 45 goals and in this indicator are second only to the leading Real Madrid (48).

This allows a modest team to sensationally hold on to third place in the championship.

However, the guests also experienced personnel problems.

Attacking midfielder Nabil Fekir, one of the main stars of the team, did not come to St. Petersburg due to disqualification.

Another key midfielder, Sergio Canales, has tested positive for coronavirus.

In the first half, the fans saw a real thriller with five goals and incredible plot twists.

At first it seemed that the hosts had no chance.

They seemed to continue the training camp and held another control match, making a large number of mistakes.

Already in the eighth minute, the guests took the lead.

They were helped by the standard position.

Rakitskiy made an inaccurate and optional tackle against Yussuf Sabali near his own penalty area and received a yellow card.

The captain of Betis, Joaquin, performed a perfect serve on the goalkeeper's line, and Guido Rodriguez, who was left without cover, calmly sent the ball into the target with his head.

With a minus sign, Rakitsky again marked himself, having lost his opponent.

Soon the Spanish team doubled the lead.

This time, Kuzyaev made a cut in the center of the field, and Rodriguez sent Willian Jose into the breakthrough.

The Brazilian calmly dragged the ball to someone else's penalty area and, without encountering resistance, perfectly hit the bottom into the far corner with a rebound from the bar.

There was a feeling that after such a start, the intrigue in the confrontation died.

However, to the credit of the Zenit players, they did not let go of their hands, but, on the contrary, got angry.

It quickly became clear that the opponent allows a lot in his half of the field, and the reserve goalkeeper Rui Silva acts nervously and uncertainly.

Brazilian performers from St. Petersburg wove beautiful combinations near someone else's penalty area, and soon this brought success.

Claudinho and Vyacheslav Karavaev opened the left flank of the defense, and the latter made a perfect cross to Dziuba.

Forward easily pushed through two defenders and reduced the backlog in the long run.

Has not passed also three minutes as Semak's wards have recouped.

Once again, the Latin Americans showed themselves superbly, creating an overload on the left edge.

Well, Wendel's cutting pass to Malcolm's move into the penalty area turned out to be a masterpiece.

Helped and one of the defenders of the opponent, who did not have time to create an artificial offside position.

The ex-Barcelona striker calmly shot past Silva into the far corner.

In the future, Zenit continued to act confidently and could well have scored more.

For example, after Malcolm's filing, Dzyuba struck just above the gate.

The more insulting was the absolutely optional goal of Betis shortly before the break.

Once again, the owners have created problems for themselves.

Kerzhakov gave an unsuccessful pass to Rakitskiy, who did not get to the ball.

Aitor Ruibal made an interception and immediately threw Andres Guardado into the gap, who calmly converted his moment - 2:3.

Semak could not be satisfied with such a game on the defensive and made a double substitution during the break.

The field was left by the author of the assist Karavaev and Rakitsky, who failed the meeting.

Instead, Danil Krugovoi and Andrei Mostovoi appeared, called upon to close the left flank.

At the same time, Zenit switched to a scheme with three central defenders.

Kuzyaev moved to the right edge, and Barrios went down.

Finally, Claudinho was almost in the support zone.

The coach's bold experiments did not affect the actions of the wards in the attack.

They continued to control the ball and weave combinations in the opponent's half.

True, with the departure of Rakitsky, there were fewer long casts in the direction of Dziuba.

"Betis" in the second half focused on keeping the score and only occasionally organized counterattacks.

Petersburgers could easily compare the score.

In one of the episodes, Dzyuba went one on one with Silva, but did not hit the far corner.

And the judge on the edge raised his flag, signaling offside.

And the hosts created the most dangerous moment immediately after Alberto appeared on the field.

He became a direct participant in this attack, developing it with a transfer from the left flank to the center on Malcolm.

The latter, with an ideal pass, sent Kuzyaev into the gap.

Daler shot from outside the penalty area on his own, although he could give the transfer to empty Alberto, but hit the crossbar.

After that, the activity of "Zenith" decreased.

Firstly, Claudinho and Dziuba left the field, and Alberto and Sergeev, who replaced them, were invisible.

Despite all the efforts, it was hard for them to show themselves from the sheet in such a responsible meeting.

Secondly, the Petersburgers simply ran out of strength.

We must not forget that this is the first official game for the team in two months.

Although Semak tried to rebuild the scheme on the go and again returned to the arrangement with two central defenders.

As a result, in the end it was not even possible to organize the final assault.

I remember only a good discount of Sergeyev in the penalty area for Alberto, but the Brazilian managed to block the blow.

In general, the match left mixed impressions.

On the one hand, Zenit was defeated and conceded three times, making a huge number of mistakes in defense.

On the other hand, the team's play in attack left a pleasant impression.

And there is no doubt that nothing is clear in this pair yet, and the champion of Russia in the second leg is able to take his own.