Zenit St. Petersburg has won its fifth consecutive Russian Premier League (RPL) championship, having defeated Spartak Moscow by a score of 3:2 on Sunday to clinch the title.
The match, held in the Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg between the two longtime rivals, turned into an intense standoff, with Zenit edging ahead 2:1 in the first half.
The first goal came early in the game and was effectively gifted to Zenit by Spartak’s goalkeeper, Aleksandr Selikhov, whose attempt to clear the ball down the field was deflected right into the goal by Zenit’s attacking midfielder, Claudinho.
Spartak responded with a goal by Keita Balde some 20 minutes later, but Zenit answered shortly thereafter with a strike by Andrey Mostovoy.
Spartak evened the score at the 85-minute mark with a penalty shot by Quincy Promes, having lost one of its players, Alexis Duarte, to a red card some ten minutes earlier. Still, Zenit managed to tip the scales in its favor during the added time, with Ivan Sergeyev scoring to secure the victory.
The win solidified Zenit’s first place in the RPL table, thus securing the club its fifth trophy in a row. After 26 matches, Zenit has 20 wins and 64 points, out of reach of its closest contender, CSKA Moscow, with 51 points and 15 victories.