Following results on Saturday, Zenit St Petersburg mathematically reached a points total of which no other team could catch them at the top of the table, and were officially crowned Champions of Russia for the 2018/19 season.
Having gone into the day knowing they would need nearest rivals Lokomotiv Moscow to slip up, regardless of their own result, Zenit went to the notoriously difficult Chechen capital Grozny to face Akhmat. With the score poised at 1-0 to the home side, Sebastian Driussi popped up to equalise with just three minutes to play. The Zenit players celebrated wildly, knowing that despite their underwhelming display, a point could be enough to win the title if Lokomotiv slipped up.
📺 Crucial from Driussi!#AkhmatZenit pic.twitter.com/O3ggZf1DyF
— FC Zenit in English🌊 (@fczenit_en) May 4, 2019
The Railwaymen played away to Arsenal Tula. Prior to the match, both sides, as well as Zenit, were undefeated in 2019 in the league. On top of that, Arsenal’s home stadium has been something of a fortress of late, having only lost once since the start of 2018.
Arsenal kept up their terrific home form and swept aside Lokomotiv with relative ease, winning 2-0 with goals from Spartak loanee Zemlikhan Bakaev, and Zenit loanee Luka Djordjevic sealing the result. Apt perhaps, that a Zenit player would score the crucial 2nd goal which put the game to bed, and gave the title to his parent club.
DRINK IT IN
— FC Zenit India🌊⭐️ (@fczenit_india) May 4, 2019
DRINK IT ALL IN. INJECT IT INTO YOUR VEINS
THIS IS LUKA'S TITLE WINNING GOAL (INSHALLAH) pic.twitter.com/e6aZQ2ZKCU
Social media erupted with applause for Zenit, but the team were still in the air, flying back north from Grozny almost straight after their match ended. Those in charge of the Zenit official Twitter accounts announced that the team would be at Pulkovo soon, and asked for fans to come and welcome their heroes home.
And that they did, a rumoured 5,000 fans turned up outside the airport to celebrate with the team, singing, lighting off flares, and playing music in a terrific celebration.
No Pyro, No Party 🧨pic.twitter.com/iGyfohnL1B
— FC Zenit in English🌊 (@fczenit_en) May 4, 2019
Soon after, the Zenit account posted a video from 35,000 feet in the air, with the players listening to the pilot announce the result from Tula, and allowing fans to witness the exact moment the team learned that they had become league champions.
When you find out you're champions, 35,000 feet in the air! ✈️🏆pic.twitter.com/qYmCUkCxXT
— FC Zenit in English🌊 (@fczenit_en) May 4, 2019
Despite securing the title, three matches remain in the season. Will Sergey Semak rotate his squad for the remaining fixtures? Young midfielder Leon Musaev has been appearing off the bench for a few minutes in recent weeks, and a start could perhaps be due for the 20-year-old.
Emmanuel Mammana, Matias Kranevitter, Elmir Nabiullin, Luis Neto and Mikhail Kerzhakov have all struggled for game time this season, and so now is the time where Semak could rotate and give the back up players a small run in the team before the end of the season.
We at RFN congratulate Zenit for their league title, and will be back at the end of the season to look back at their season, and just how Zenit managed to pull it off.
Leave a Reply