With title rivals Spartak Moscow stumbling last week, drawing 2-2 at home against Ural, Zenit had the chance to go eight points clear at the top of the table with a win against Nizhny Novgorod. 
The reigning Champions opened the scoring in the 12th minute through Malcom in fine fashion. The playmaker scored directly from a free kick from the edge of the area, curling it over the wall and beyond the goalkeepers reach, past his top left corner. The blue-white-sky blues were awarded a penalty in the 37th minute following a foul on Daniil Krugovoy in the area, but Daler Kuzyayev missed the spot-kick, with the ball going over the cross bar. 

Zenit kept attacking and looked dominant down the left as they doubled their lead two minutes into the second half as Malcom bagged his brace, guiding a free header into the net after a dynamic dribble from Andrei Mostovoy on the left before the winger set up the goal. It wasn’t just Malcom stealing the plaudits though as Robert Renan’s league debut earned him a place in many pundits Russian Premier Liga Team of the Week with his confident display at the back.

Mostovoy was provider again as Alexandr Erokhin completed the scoring in the 82nd minute. The Zenit substitute needed just one touch before curling a shot with the outside of his right boot, catching the Nizhny keeper off guard with the direction of the ball. 

Khimki were on the road last week as the side travelled to Voronezh to play Fakel in a relegation six-pointer. The away side had a gilt-edged chance to take the lead as they were awarded a penalty in the 20th minute, taken by Reziuan Mirzov. The talisman for this growing Khimki sides since their rise to the Russian Premier Liga hit the keepers right post, before tapping in the rebound, only for this goal to be chalked off, due to the fact the player cannot touch the ball directly after taking a penalty. 
Spurred on by this the side from the capitol took the lead just a minute later. Mirzov was involved again, with his deflected pass finding Guilherme. The debutant dribbled through the opposition playerrs, combing well with Janio Bikel. The midfielder back-heeled a one-two pass with Guilherme which gave the Brazilian a chance to open up his body and curl a low shot into the goal. Fakel equalised before half time after some poor defending from Khimki saw a defensive area go out to the near byline, which is then put across the face of goal by Khyzyr Appayev, and stabbed in by Georgi Gongadze at the back post. The game finished 1-1, a result that’s left Khimki languishing in 15th place on 13 points. 

Sunday’s opponents are coached by former Alania Vladivavkaz manager, Spartak Gogniyev. The 42-year-old has been at the helm since the start of the season and had a big winter transfer window- with a plethora of players going in and out of the squad. He sets his side out in a 3-4-3 formation. Mirzov is instrumental to Gogniyev’s side and plays on the left, with new signing Guilherme a possible way to unlock Zenit’s tight defence from up front. The Brazilian signed from Sao Paulo in the break. Butta Magomedov and Bikel are deployed in central midfield to chase down the ball with utility full back Brian Idowu able to fit in on either side of the pitch. The Nigerian international looks comfortable on the ball and has been a bright spark for the side since signing from Lokomotiv Moscow in 2021 after a successful loan spell. Gogniyev looked to strengthen his team in South America a lot over the winter, bringing in centre-backs Cristian Tassano from Uruguay and Brazilian Leo Andrade from Portuguese sides Santa Clara and Martimo respectively. 

Zenit have dominated in this fixture, but when the sides faced off against each other back in July, Khimki snatched a point late into added time through Alexander Zuev, cancelling Erokhin’s 76th minute strike. 

Speaking to us before Sunday’s clash in his pre-match press conference, Semak spoke of the improvement from the side: “The squad and style of play are changing. I think the coach is trying to find the best team with the players he has right now.”

“They have a good squad and we are expecting a challenging game.”

Claudinho and Douglas Santos could return to the squad, but Semak alluded to a heavy fixture list coming up with Dynamo Moscow in the Cup before a competitive friendly with Fenerbache, meaning a need to rotate the squad.

Zenit v Khimki takes place this Sunday at the Gazprom Arena and will be shown live on Match-TV in Russia and on the RPL YouTube channel worldwide.