Do you have any words to describe this tough match?
The game was very difficult, we tried to control the game from the very first minute, but we conceded an early goal unfortunately, and that gave the hosts confidence. After that we were in control of the ball all the time, we really wanted to score and take home the win and thank God, in the last minutes I managed to score to make the game level. A draw isn’t the result we came for, but it's still good that we are not leaving empty-handed. Now we can have a rest get ready for the upcoming matches.
In your opinion, is this a fair result?
Yes, although I think we created better chances than our opponents, we could have got the three points, and the win would have been well deserved. But this is football and this happens, we need to take time to review our errors today, so not to make them again in the future.
How did you feel when CSKA took the early lead? And what did your teammates say at that moment?
I tried to lift their spirits and add motivation, because it was the very start of the game. There was a lot of time ahead of us to fix things and there will definitely be more games like this when we find ourselves in difficult situations, but we need to be more focused to stop this happening.
Zenit had several excellent chances in the first half, in the second there were some, but fewer chances, did you think at some point the game could not be saved?
No! We believe in our abilities until the final whistle, this is what we work for every day. If you don’t believe then nothing good will happen. We were true to ourselves and fought until the final whistle, we managed to score and earned a draw.
You haven't scored since April last year, what does this goal mean to you?
It means a lot. I'm a defender of course, but it's always nice to score and be different. I thank the Lord that I was able to score today, and I hope, with His help, I’ll continue to score.
As captain what do you do when situations occur on the field, like at the end of today's match?
I’m generally not one of those who get involved with or start conflicts, it’s not my style, but today I admit, I got involved and couldn’t contain myself, Because when CSKA took the lead, they began to time waste, they did everything slowly and made a lot of fouls, they wanted to win at any cost. So at the end of the game I lost my head a little and got into an argument with Zabolotny, he misunderstood me and an row began. But it was a good lesson and I am sure that in the future I will be able to control myself better so that this does not happen again.
