Sergei Semak: "After our third, the winner was never in doubt"

The Zenit boss on the 3-1 away win in Ekaterinburg.
It was a good game and a confident win for us. In the first half, we looked good and were able to score twice. We had some difficulties in the second half, when the Urals came forward more in attack and played down the flanks and won a lot of corners, one of which led to their goal. After that, there was some nervousness from us as the score was quite dangerous, but in the end we managed to score the third. After that, the winner was never in doubt, it was more a question of how much we will score. 

How serious is the Mammana’s injury?

An examination will show us how serious it is. We are all very upset. The doctor immediately said he needed to come off and we have to listen to the doctor's advice. I can't say how bad is until we see the results of the scan.

Why did you start Kerzhakov instead of Lunev?

We have competition and players should all get some playing time. We have confidence in the goalkeeper as this is the most difficult position. Now I considered it right to put Kerzhakov out there and he played well.

Did you play with three central defenders because Rakitskyi was suspended or to give playing time to Osorio and Mammana?

Both. We are missing Barrios and he is an important player in terms of the balance of attack and defence. We decided to look at the ways players did in this formation.