Zenit took the game to the home side from the outset in the 25th round of games in the Russian Premier Liga as Tambov hosted us in the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, 500 km north of their home town. Tambov set their stall out to just take a point and started with 10 men behind the ball, defending deep with the sole aim of preventing Sergei Semak's men from scoring.

The first half was pure frustration for the blue-white-sky blues, with a dozen or so half-chances all failing to make their mark.  It wasn't until the 43rd minute when Sardar Azmoun reacted quickest to an Artem Dzyuba flick-on in the box that the deadlock was broken. The Iranian, who had had the bulk of the chances so far, strecthed out a leg at the back post to send the ball into Shelia net.

The second half started brighter with Tambov looking to get back into the game and a much more even affair followed. Both sides saw chances, with Malcom particularly impressing once again. However the game seemed to be drifting towards a 1-0 away win for the St. Petersburg side with both sides running out of steam. That was until very late on when an innocuous shove in the air from Rakitsky was penalised and a lifeline was handed to Tambov. The 88th-minute spot kick was put away by Ciupercă and it seemed Zenit had been robbed of all three points. 

The game entered injury time and up stepped substitute Emiliano Rigoni, not long on the field, he reacted quickest to a knockdown just inside the home side's box and fired home a half-volley in the 91st minute. The three points were back where they belonged and Zenit remain in first place, 11 points ahead of Lokomotiv Moscow and with just five games now left to play.

The next match for Sergei Semak's side is away to Krasnodar on Sunday 5 June at 8.30pm St. Petersburg time.