Alexander Kokorin: "We wanted to make up for the Anzhi defeat"

The Zenit and Russia striker on the win over Slavia Prague in the UEFA Europa League.
Alexander, congratulations on the win and the goal. Did Zenit fully deserve to win today? 

We deserved it as we worked hard but the game was tough. They had a lot of chances and many of them we gave them ourselves. Many of our chances we didn't take, but we wanted to redeem ourselves for the defeat in the last game against Anzhi. This is an important home win against a good team. We will continue to work hard. 

It seemed that Slavia had the advantage in the second half, they attacked more often and were sharper. How were you able to still get the win?

I think that when I went down the centre, we were better at keeping the ball and losing it less. I had a great chance which didn't come off, but in general, the game calmed down, Slavia created fewer chances after that and we then scored and won the game. 

You mentioned a chance you missed. But soon after that you scored. Were you cooler with that chance?

No, It was just the same as the first chance, I approached it coolly, assessed the situation, got the ball, but missed, I must have done something wrong. But it was a good chance. 

Tell us about the goal. 

There was a great pass from Leo Paredes, a whole free area opened up in front of me, all I had to do was take it. 

Why did they have so many chances on our goal?

We analyzed them, we knew they shot well, but apparently, we not appreciate their real strength. 

How important is it to win in front of your own fans? 

Our home support is very important to us. Especially when not everything works out. We wanted to make up for the Anzhi defeat and we never get less than 40,000 turning up.