Zenit play out a stalemate with Akhmat Grozny

Sergei Semak's side were unable to find the breakthrough during a frustrating game with Akhmat at the Gazprom Arena.
Sardar Azmoun seemed to open the scoring on 7 minutes when he latched onto a loose ball from Alexander Erokhin's charge towards the Akhmat goal, only for the referee to disallow the opener and award Zenit a freekick on the edge of the box. Utsiev saw red for the foul on Erokhin in the build up, but the freekick was defelcted wide and this set the tone for a frustrating evening ahead for the blue-white sky blues.

Numerous chances came Zenit's way with both Dzyuba and Azmoun coming close with headers throughout both halves. Early on in the second, Emiliano RIgoni fired home from the edge of the box, but the linesman flagged for offside and this too was disallowed. 

A handball in the box just after the hour by Shvets was not seen by the officials and went unpunished and despite our advantage in terms of possession and men, the blue-white-sky blues were unable to find the decisive strike and the game ended 0-0.

Sergei Semak's side remain unbeaten in the Russian Premier Liga and stay in first place on 14 points, one point ahead of nearest rivals Krasnodar.