Sportblog | The Guardian — Zenit St Petersburg RSS

Mar 26, 2022

Football in Russia is crashing and isolation can only hasten its decline

Trajectory has been downwards for some time and the country’s pariah status spells disaster for its clubs and national teamLast Saturday, Zenit St Petersburg beat Arsenal Tula 3-0 to stretch their lead at the top of the Russian Premier League over Dynamo Moscow to five points. Dynamo, managed by the German Sandro Schwarz, needed a last-minute penalty to salvage a draw at home to Rostov, while in Nizhny Novgorod, the Italian coach Paolo Vanoli threw on Victor Moses at half-time as his Spartak Moscow side drew 1-1.But this is another world now. Foreign involvement lingers, but these are games that feel as if they are happening in a different reality. There will almost certainly be no European football for Russian...

Sep 14, 2021

Tuchel’s patience pays off as Chelsea find a way past Zenit | Jacob Steinberg

Crosses went astray and decisions were rushed but manager’s preparation finally yielded 1-0 result thanks to Romelu LukakuAs the half-time whistle edged closer, with openings scarce and Zenit St Petersburg carrying out their containment plan to perfection, an increasingly animated Thomas Tuchel could be seen urging Chelsea to calm down in the final third. There were too many rushed decisions from the European champions, a little too much desperation to force the issue, and Tuchel did not hold in his frustration when he saw Reece James spank a cross into the first white shirt after finding a rare pocket of space on the right flank.“Slow it down,” came the cry from Tuchel, who had spent most of the first half...