Dmitriy Chistyakov: “It’s good we didn’t concede”

The Zenit defender’s words on the match in Grozny.

Dmitriy Chistyakov: “It’s good we didn’t concede”

It was a difficult match, and Zenit are going back home only with a 0-0 draw. Can you give us a few words on the game?

“I’ll say that there’s probably no reason to be happy, but I think it’s not bad that we’re coming back home with a draw after such game and being down to ten men… There are many games ahead, and the opponents will be losing points too. We didn’t want to lose points here, but that’s football, things like that happen. We’ll analyze this match when we come back and continue to move forward. It’s good we didn’t concede and were able to keep going while down to 10 men.”

You got on the pitch at the very end of the match. What was your objective?

“You saw that at the end a big forward got on from Akhmat’s side, Konaté. Perhaps that’s why the manager decided to send me on the pitch, maybe because of my ability in the airl. He told me where to go during set-pieces. There was no need to think of any extra things in this game as all of the attacks were at us, and the opponent was pressing us, so we had to just resist and not concede goals.”

During one counter attack you found yourself upfront, was that spontaneous?

“That was a set-piece and I went forward with our tall defenders. I happened to be in that area on the right, I got the ball and passed it to Rodrigão. There was nothing dangerous there.”

You made an appearance on the pitch after a small break out injured. How are you feeling and how physically ready are you?

“I feel good. The few days after being ill were a bit difficult, but I’m slowly getting in shape. I feel good during training but got on the pitch today, and even though I didn’t get much time, it was still fine. Everything is up ahead. Competition is not a bad thing, so we keep moving forward with positivity. I want to reiterate that I feel good.”