Zenit St.Petersburg 3 - 1 Lyonnais: Lyon win moves Zenit St Petersburg closer to knockout stages

Posted Wednesday, October 21, 2015 by PA

Zenit St Petersburg are on the brink of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League after defeating Lyon 3-1 in Russia.

Hulk scored a superb individual goal as Zenit maintained their 100 per cent record in Group H, leaving Lyon close to elimination in the process.

Artem Dzjuba netted his 11th goal in as many games for club and country to give Zenit a second-minute lead after being set up by fine pass by Oleg Shatov.

Andre Villas-Boas' side were dominant and Dzjuba should have doubled his and his team's tally but sent his shot over the crossbar.

They were made to pay early in the second half when a lovely piece of ingenuity from Alexandre Lacazette saw him divert Christophe Jallet's cross into the net and bring the Ligue 1 side level.

But Hulk quickly restored Zenit's lead in the 56th minute, striding forward past the halfway line before unleashing a swerving left-foot shot into the top corner of the net.

Dzjuba squandered another opening for the home side soon after while, at the other end, Lacazette was denied a clear shooting opportunity by a last-ditch challenge from Aleksandr Aniukov.

Lyon pushed forward in search of an equalising goal but with eight minutes left they were caught on the break as Zenit captain Danny tucked away another perfectly-timed pass by Shatov.

Villas-Boas' side stay top of Group H with nine points from three games, while Lyon have just one point and are bottom of the table.