In the first half we played below our best and weren’t sharp in front of goal. The second half was good, I liked our movement and the pressure we applied, we created chances, but unfortunately, they didn’t come off. It’s one game less and the gap is the same, so we’ll get ready for the next round. Now every match is difficult and that’s understandable, every side needs the points and every team has its own targets. We’ll have a rest and prepare for the next match.
Did we see the quality football we would expect for the two top sides in the league today?
I can’t speak much for them, but we’ll have a look at our game and see. Mentally we were at a good level. As for the quality, in the second half we had a clear advantage. The league doesn’t like and I’m not surprised Rostov are in second place, they are a good, strong team with a lot of movement. They try to play football, to press and for us, to drop points is not good, so we aren’t pleased, but nothing bad happened.
How was the refereeing in the match and should there have been a penalty?
There are no questions at all about the possible penalty, the foul was outside the penalty area, everyone saw it. As for refereeing, I think there are people whose job it is to review this. There were a lot of fouls, so it was a difficult match for the referee. Some fouls were missed, some were given. They have a different job.
Zenit have a nine point lead in the league, is there any chance of you not winning the title
Nothing is impossible. Nine points with seven games to go is not the gap that means a team can just stroll to the end of the season. I said in a pre-match interview about how in Portugal with eight games left a side had a 10 point lead, that was cut down to four points two games later. Everyone had named Benfica champions, but now there’s all to play for with Porto and Benfica, and the same situation is true here. I understand that the media and fans of other clubs are saying this, but we know what is needed in reality. Yes, we have a very good chance, but we have to work hard in every match and play to win. If we have this gap with just three or four games left, then you can say it will be incredibly difficult to not win it.
Did anything surprise for about Karpin’s team today? Why couldn’t you get the win?
We didn’t win as we ran out of time. We were too passive in the first half, we haven’t analyzed the game yet, but that’s my opinion. The second half was better, but we had to score to win. As for Valery Karpin’s team, they are a fairly strong and well trained team, he has a goalkeeper who can play well with his feet and they play well out from defence. Today we didn’t have enough shots to win, although Rostov also had the only scoring chance at the end of the match, which they created at the very, very end. Once again, returning to the previous question, everything is possible. No matter how well you play, the team that scores the most win. We played at home with Akhmat and lost, and there the xG was off scale, but the scoreboard told a different story. This happens very often in football, and that makes it interesting, the chances of an upset is high. We have to maintain the standards we’ve set ourselves.
