Zenit recently suffered a 2-1 loss to Crvena Zvezda, a game that determined the winner of the Winline Summer Cup. The blue-white-sky blues played a trio of matches during the tournament, winning 5-2 against Sochi and 1-0 against Talleres. Zenit finished second in the competition with six points.
In the last meeting between Zenit and Krasnodar on 13 April, the blue-white-sky blues came back from a one-goal deficit. Artur scored to put his team ahead in the 63rd minute after Mateo Cassierra equalised early in the second half.
Zenit claimed victory in the 2023 Russian Super Cup final by defeating CSKA Moscow 5-4 on penalties. This triumph marked the beginning of their historic treble-winning season, during which they won the Russian Premier Liga (RPL) title and the Russian Cup.
Summer-signing and attacking midfielder Maksim Glushenkov, who joined from Lokomotiv, featured in today's starting XI for the blue-white-sky blues. The Russian player signed a four-year deal with Zenit with the option of another year on 20 June. Evgeny Latyshonok, who arrived from Baltika, also made the starting XI in today's affair. The 26-year-old Russian goalkeeper also joined Zenit on a four-year deal with the option of a further year on 14 June.
Rodrigao opened the scoring in the 13th minute. After a chaotic scene in the Krasnodar penalty area following a corner kick, team captain Douglas Santos delivered a perfect cross from outside the 18-yard box to Rodrigao, who headed the ball past goalkeeper Stanislav Agkatsev and into the bottom corner. It was the Brazilian defender's third goal of his Zenit career.
Claudinho made a long-range attempt from the top-right side of the 18-yard box, but it drifted wide of the far-left post.
In the first half, Krasnodar had difficulty challenging the Zenit defence. They could not penetrate the backline of the blue-white-sky blues and only managed one shot, which arose when Victor Sa's attempt at a tap-in goal from a Joao Batxi cross sailed over the bar.
In the 33rd minute, Wendel doubled Zenit's lead after earning a corner kick. Glushenkov's delivery reached Strahinja Erakovic at the near post, who headed the ball across the six-yard box to Wendel. Wendel stretched and made contact with the ball using the outside of his right-foot, sending it into the left side of the net. It marks his 22nd goal of his Zenit career.
Glushenkov made it 3-0 in the 42nd minute after Wendel passed the ball low to him inside the Krasnodar penalty area during a swift Zenit counterattack. The Russian, who sprinted through the centre of the pitch, took a low left-footed shot on his first touch and buried it into the bottom-left corner, giving Zenit a three-goal lead going into halftime. It was the new signing's first goal of his young Zenit career.
Latyshonok had to deflect Eduard Spertsyan's distant strike in the 50th minute and then made consecutive saves, with Krasnodar gaining momentum as they pushed to score.
Head coach Sergei Semak made a double substitution in the 62nd minute, bringing on Gustavo Mantuan and Yuri Gorshkov for Claudinho and Andrey Mostovoy.
In the 65th minute, Krasnodar's Nikita Krivtsov opened his team's account, bringing the score to 3-1, when he rolled the ball onto his left-foot after slicing through the Zenit defence. His left-footed attempt from the centre of the box landed in the bottom-right corner of the net.
Semak was forced to substitute Rodrigao for Nuraly Alip in the 67th minute after the goal-scorer went down with an apparent injury.
Zenit quickly responded to Krivtsov's goal three minutes later. Glushenkov completed his brace after connecting with Wendel for the second time. The Brazilian was leading the Zenit counterattack when he made a low pass to Glushenkov inside Krasnodar's 18-yard box. With a low-left shot, the Russian midfielder found the left corner to bring the blue-white-sky-blue's lead back to three.
Krasnodar scored again in the 70th minute. After stealing the ball near the centre circle, Krivtsov charged up the field and passed to Fedor Smolov, who was running alongside Krivtsov on the fast break. Smolov took a right-footed shot, which deflected off Latyshonok's right-hand and bounced into the back of the net, reducing the deficit to two again.
The final 20 minutes of the match were hard-fought, with neither team creating any dangerous scoring opportunities. Spertsyan's direct free kick in the fifth minute of extra time missed too high of the net, and Zenit held on to win the match 4-2, securing their ninth Russian Super Cup title in their illustrious history.
The Russian champions will play their first match of the 2024/2025 RPL season against Krylia Sovetov on Saturday, 20 July, at the Solidarnost Samara Arena. Kick-off is set for 5.30pm St. Petersburg time. Tickets are available here.