How would you rate the match in Ekaterinburg for you?
It was a good quality match and everything went our way in that performance, we had a lot of chances, and we scored a lot of goals. We were secure in defence and I will rate the game as an A+.
You scored one of the goals, can you tell us more about that moment?
As far as I remember, we were attacking and Barrios passed to Claudinho, he found me with a pass, and I turned the defender and just had to hit the far corner. Everything went right, the pass, the dribble and the shot. It was a good goal and nice to score like that!
How did it feel to score that goal? With whom and why did you celebrate the goal?
Alexander Anyukov said to me today: “If you get on, you’ll score.” I ran straight to him, and team staff were next to him, so I celebrated with everyone a little bit.
Before a previous match with Spartak in Moscow, Alexander Anyukov told Wendel that he would score, and he scored two. So can he see the future?
I don’t know about that (laughs). It’s was as I was coming on as a substitute, he said to me that everything would be fine. Before the match we had our boots softened up, I told the staff they were too dry before the match, and I asked them to do it, and they did, so everything went right. Thanks to the guys and Alexander Anyukov!
This was your 30th Zenit goal, what have been your most memorable Zenit goals and how does it feel to reach 30 goals?
This is a good number and Anyukov told me when we were on the way to the airport after the game. It’s nice to get to this number and have helped the team. Some of my goals won the game, but to choose one…I will say my first goal against Rubin, or the goal in the Super Cup from distance and the championship winning goal, this is the most important goal not only for me, but for the entire team. It won the club our tenth championship.
Did Krasnodar losing away to Rostov inspire the team?
We don’t pay any attention to this, we just need to push ourselves. There are many games ahead of us, and this is a tough season. We’ve dropped points ourselves, and now we need to make up for that. You mustn’t rely on other results, only on our own game.
