Zenit commenced the game with attacking vigour, pressing the visitors aggressively in their half throughout the initial minutes. The first goal-scoring opportunity arose in the sixth minute when Claudinho unleashed his shot straight into the gloves of Orenburg's goalkeeper Nikolay Sysuev.
After two shots on target without success, the Brazilian midfielder opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with a sublime curler from outside the box, finding the top corner and granting his side a 1-0 advantage. Colombia’s Mateo Cassierra, provided the assist after winning an aerial duel with the Orenburg defence.
The goal marked Claudinho's fifth of the season and his 20th overall in his Zenit career.
The away side came close to equalising in the 28th minute. Club captain Dmitriy Vorobyev's long-range effort outside the penalty area deflected off the hands of Zenit goalkeeper Mikhail Kerzhakov and striking the near post.
The blue-white-sky blues maintained their one-goal lead at halftime, thanks to Claudinho's emphatic strike.
Mikhail Kerzhakov's back-to-back saves early in the second half set the tone. Orenburg forward Jordhy Thompson found himself with a half-chance in the Zenit box, but Kerzhakov denied him with another save. Moments later, Kerzhakov parried Vorobjev’s shot from the left side of the box during after another positive Orenburg counter attack.
Kerzhakov was kept busy in the second half as Orenburg posed more threats and created numerous opportunities in the home side's half, the captain making three saves within the first twenty minutes of the second half and a total of five in the match.
In the 77th minute, Gustavo Mantuan took a shot from just inside the box and the ball seemed to strike Orenburg defender Danila Prokhin’s hand, the Zenit players appealed to referee Vladislav Bezborodov and after a lengthy VAR check, the referee dismissed the penalty appeal.
Despite a less dominant second half, the blue-white-sky blue held on to their 1-0 lead and claimed victory for their 15th win of the RPL campaign. This result elevates Zenit's points tally to 50 with six games remaining, providing them with a four-point advantage over Krasnodar at the summit of the table.
The Russian champion's next match is at home when they welcome Rubin Kazan on Wednesday 24 April at the Gazprom Arena. Kick-off is at 8.30pm St. Petersburg time. Tickets are available here.
