Mikhail, today you have another great game, congratulations.
Thanks. I think the second half was very different from the first. Spartak came back and the red card changed the game, but we survived. I am very glad that we got the win.
Was it difficult to play in front of the away end?
No, it was harder to play in front of our fans. We had very loud support from them and it was difficult for me to shout at our defenders.
How do think Spartak played? At times they took the initiative
This is because we were down to 10 men. If there was no red card, I think the whole game would have been similar to the first half. Maybe we would have even scored another.
Can we say that Zenit were in control?
No and especially not in the second half. Playing with 10 men meant it is difficult to control the game and the red card was at the beginning of the second half, with another forty minutes to play. Plus, we’d just had a difficult match with Lyon.
Is it difficult to maintain concentration when you’re down to 10 men?
No, but you can lose concentration due to tiredness. When you a long time with 10 men you can’t turn off for a split second and fortunately we didn’t.
