– In my opinion the result of the Zenit-Saturn match was absolutely precitable in the sense that it was obvious that Zenit would not only win, but score a lot of goals. Actually, I predicted the day before the match that Spalletti`s side would win 3:0. Because it`s just impossible for Saturn to compete with Zenit in its current form. Especially on Zenit`s home pitch. Judging by the football players that Zenit has, there`s no way that Saturn could have tested Zenit even if Saturn had all its players healthy. So in the end Zenit showed its class and played beautiful football. And considering the way things went on the field, a score of 6:1 isn`t too bad for the team from the Moscow Region. The match reminded people me of the comparison between our Russian Zhiguli cars and a Mercedes. There was just no contest.
I don`t think Zenit`s 0-0 draw in its previous match with Terek had any influence on the score of Zenit`s blowout against Saturn. Zenit`s match against Terek Grozny was played on the road, in a very difficult atmosphere for Zenit. This Saturday everything was entirely different: the opponent, the home-field advantage, and the fans. Furthermore, it seems to me that the Zenit coaches want Zenit to win the Russian Premier League outright as soon as possible, several match days before the end of the season. That will help the team to focus more directly on the Europa League. Because even though Spalletti has a long bench, it`s still tough to battle on two fronts at once.
Returning to the match with Saturn, since I am a former striker myself, I want to talk about the goals that Zenit`s forwards scored. They were all great to watch, but I would especially note the goal that Lazovic scored from Kerzhakov`s pass. Alexander himself was in an excellent position, but he wasn`t greedy, and gave an excellent pass to Lazovic. That was a nice surprise. That whole movement down the field was superb, on the highest European level. It was perfect in terms of speed, thinking, and execution. I hope we`ll see the same kind of football when Zenit plays AEK in the Europa League.
