Struggling Shakhtar held at home by Zenit
Reuters - Wednesday 19 October 2011, 21:11
Ukraine's Shakhtar
Donetsk were held to a 2-2 draw by Zenit St Petersburg at Donbas
Arena on WedUnesday in a Champions League Group G clash labelled
as a former Soviet derby.
Shakhtar, quarter-finalists last season, struggled to
rediscover their form and stayed bottom of the standings with
two points from three matches despite leading twice.
Brazilian Willian fired Shakhtar ahead after 15 minutes with
a classy curling shot and his compatriot Luiz Adriano put them
ahead again after Roman Shirokov had levelled for Zenit but
Viktor Faizulin made sure the points were shared.
Russian league leaders Zenit would have been happier with
the draw as they moved into second spot on four points, one
behind surprise group leaders APOEL.
Defeat in St Petersburg in two weeks would leave Shakhtar
struggling to emerge from the group into the knockout phase.
"We should be happy to have snatched a point as it was Zenit
who deserved a victory," Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu told
reporters.
"They managed to impose their will on the game overwhelming
us in physical shape and dedication. I cannot recollect a match
when I thought the goalkeeper was the best player but today he
was the man of the match. It is a good lesson to our Brazilians
who should understand that it is not enough to rely solely on
their technical flair.
"Character and dedication also matter. This point has made
our hopes of going into the next round even more uncertain."
It was an entertaining clash in the Donbass Arena and Zenit
should have gone in front after 10 minutes but Shirokov missed a
penalty after a foul by Dmytro Chygrynskiy on Faizulin.
Zenit had another great chance when Danny's close-range shot
was stopped in stunning fashion by Olexandr Rybka.
They were then caught cold when Willian curled a perfect
shot into the top corner.
Zenit's persistence was rewarded after 33 minutes when
turned into a well-deserved equaliser on 33 minutes when
Shirokov latched on to an incisive pass by Alexandr Bukharov,
rounded the keeper and scored from an acute angle.
The visitors looked the more likely to score the next goal
but Mircea Lucescu's Shakhtar side again struck against the flow
of the game in the dying minutes of the first half.
Razvan Rat crossed low into the area from the left and Luiz
Adriano finished off calmly.
Shakhtar could not hold the lead though and they gifted
Zenit a second equaliser when Olexandr Chyzhov slipped and
Faizulin stole in to lob Rybka.
"I would like to congratulate myself for working with such
great players. They had an outstanding game tonight. Not so many
teams create so many goal scoring chances in Donetsk," Zenit
coach Luciano Spalletti said.