Aleksandr, it was your first match as a Zenit captain. How will you remember it?

“Unfortunately, the result was not what we expected it to be. We started fine and had to score during the first 15-20 minutes, but we weren’t able to do that. Then Krylia had a few attacks, and us being down to ten men at the end also took a toll on the way the match went. All that lead to this result.” 

Do you have an explanation for this result? How fair is it today? 

“I guess it’s fair, because we didn’t score when we had a chance, and we allowed the opponent too much at our goal. The quality of the game wasn’t good enough to achieve better results.”

You said it yourself that in the first half there were many goal chances at the opponent’s goal. What happened after the half time when Zenit almost stopped creating them? 

“In the second half we changed the formation a little bit. Generally we were starting attacks, Krugovoy and Mostovoy were open for passes behind the defenders’ backs, but we didn’t finish those attacks to make the situation more intense.”

When the situation became kind of heated in the second half, what did you say to Tsypchenko who was lying on the ground?

“Nothing special, I just asked him to get up, because he made a bit of a show when he was falling. I told him to get up and to stop provoking.”

These episodes happened too fast, Claudinho got two yellow cards. Was it fair that he was sent off the pitch?

“It’s difficult to say. The referee has specific criteria for giving warnings. I think the second yellow could’ve been avoided, because almost all of us were on our half of the pitch, so the opponent didn’t have a chance to start a fast attack. We could’ve done it without getting the card, but it is what it is.”

Is this defeat going to add more aggression before the match against Dynamo on Saturday?

“It certainly will. Every defeat is food for thought and motivation to redeem ourselves in front of our fans.”