Anatoly Davydov: The fans enjoyed the match

Zenit-Y`s head coach noted after his team`s victory in the first group stage match of the CIS Champions Cup that both opponents showed good football.

– Honestly, it was pretty hard to play today, – Davydov said to journalists. – We didn’t really have much time to get ready for this match. We only had four practices before the game. Our guys tried really hard today, and the match had good pace. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to keep that rhythm and pace over the whole course of the match, but that’s understandable. We’re not functionally ready yet. Both teams showed interesting, exciting football, and I think the fans enjoyed the match. The only thing that ruined the match was the red card shown to our player. There was no rough tackle from behind in that episode. Cheminava made his tackle more from the side than from behind. After that we were in a tough spot, and our opponent took the initiative. But I was happy with the way we made counterattacks in that situation.

– Why isn’t Evgeny Bashkirov playing?
– We’re resolving the question of his contract for now, and he’s got a small injury that worries us. So we won’t see him in this tournament.

– Did you watch the match of your next opponent in the group, Shakter Belarus?
– No, I wasn’t able to watch their match. But we’ll definitely watch a video of the match.

– How did you like the surface in SKK Stadium?
– The field isn’t bad. Of course we’re used to training and playing outside, where the ball responds differently than on fake turf. The game goes much faster on this fake surface. Even our muscles work differently here. But the quality of the surface isn’t bad.

– What result from this tournament will satisfy you?
– Right now we want to advance from our group. That will depend on how our players feel on the pitch.