Football’s First Defender

In the previous games, Skrtel and Hagen, who always made mistakes, performed really well today!

Although there is also a reason why our full-backs didn't have a lot of penetration in the early stage, but in the final stage, facing our own full-scale attack, the opponent counterattacked twice in a row, but they all returned in vain!

Skrtel first blocked Pienaar's breakthrough, and only 2 minutes later, when Everton counterattacked again, Eric Hagen, who was dragged at the end of the defense, also successfully restricted Aniche who was holding the ball. cowry!

At least, it is guaranteed that Zenit will no longer take the lead in conceding the ball!

But Zenit's own offensive players, although they created countless opportunities, they just couldn't break through the ten fingers of the opponent's goalkeeper Howard!

As the game draws to a close, Everton's defense looks even more impenetrable!

Zenit's offense is getting harder!

We can see that Arshavin has already started to bend over and gasp for breath. After all, one person is responsible for the entire attack on the right. As the ace of the team, Arshavin must try his best in this crucial battle. It's possible to help the team!

It's just a pity, he really didn't have the luck to score a goal today!

Due to some problems with Arshavin's physical strength, Tymoshchuk very rationally shifted the ball to the left, at least allowing his close comrades on the right to recover their strength!

The combination of Anyukov and Denisov is still capable of fighting!

Plus also on this side, the one who switched to defend is Pinal, who is strong in offense and weak in defense, and has some physical problems!

Zenit's chances on the left are actually greater than imagined!

Anyukov pinned Pienaar on the wing and created space for Denisov near the baseline. Another direct confrontation between Denisov and Hibbert!

Changing direction breakthrough!

Pinal came from the outside defense!

Denisov's ball is dangerous...

Back heel!

Facing the double-teaming situation between the two, Denisov kicked his heel back and passed the ball in the most time-saving way!

Anyukov, a 45-degree cross!

Because of Pienaar's return defense, no one interfered to get Anyukov!

The quality of this ball is extremely high!

It's fast and has a big arc!

The landing point is near the small restricted area line!

Goalkeeper Howard didn't come out in time!

Pogrebnyak!

Header!

Bang Dang!!!

Ah! This ball!

Hit the crossbar!

Goalkeeper Howard, facing such a close-range shot, has given up resistance! But the crossbar saved Everton!

Under Jajelka's interference, Boshen didn't hit the correct part of the football! This ball can be rejected by the crossbar. Everton's luck in this game is really good!

How many times has Zenit missed the opportunity?

It's hard to imagine that in such a fierce game, the score has been kept at 0-0!

The other game is over. Nuremberg sits at home 2-0 and beat Alkmaar lightly! Zenit wants to take the initiative of promotion in their own hands and can only win, but Zenit has time left Running out!

…………

It's 88 minutes, and the game is almost in stoppage time, but Zenit's offense is still gaining momentum and not scoring!

Just now Edvocaat replaced Dominguez, who was already exhausted, with Tyke. He was going to play a double center forward, and he played a high ball from the side to compete for points!

But Moyes also used a substitute central defender, replacing Pienaar, who is of average defensive ability, and played a three-central defender, just to prevent Zenit's high-altitude bombing in the final stage!

Arshavin and Anyukov played the ball on the left and right flanks respectively, but the results were not satisfactory!

The defenders in the Premier League are not afraid of such high balls at all. In the Zenit team, Boshen, who is best at grabbing headers, can't get an excellent opportunity at all under the interference of Jajelka!

Fortunately, due to the interference of Boshen and Tek in the penalty area, Everton's central defender can only choose to make a steady clearance. The final control of the ball is still in the hands of Zenit!

Anyukov's pass again!

With Pienaar off the field, Zenit's left side has become more comfortable!

However, the quality of this cross is really mediocre!

The speed of the ball is too slow. For Everton's central defenders, there is enough reaction time!

With the help of his teammates, Jajelka successfully got stuck in front of Pogrebnyak and cleared the ball with a header!

The second landing point outside the restricted area!

Boom!

Arshavin shot directly!

Full of strength!

But it didn't hold down the football!

The ball flew into the stands!

Groalball from Everton!

Howard directly chooses to drive fast!

Pass the ball to Bynes on the wing!

Bynes drives the ball straight forward!

Arshavin panted heavily, trying to catch up with the defense, but he couldn't catch up at all!

Bynes moves forward with the ball alone!

McFadden on the same side is also quickly cutting into the hinterland of Zenit's right!

Lombaltz is also galloping after McFadden!

Zenit is extremely defensive, so Tymoshchuk has to take care of Baines!

But Baines is not interested in fighting!

Direct long pass to McFadden's side!

1v1 of two new substitutes

Obviously McFadden is faster!

Bynes' long pass has the demeanor of Arteta, the core of the team, and the placement is excellent. McFadden didn't slow down, just unloaded the ball and moved forward!

Longbalz, who is behind, can only eat ashes behind, but he can't catch up!

McFadden puts the ball straight in front of the goal!

Anichebe! During the running process, he bypassed Hagen's defense, circled around, and rushed to the position of passing the ball first!

Follow up and hit the door!

Push!

Yes?

No!

Eric Hagan! Fly this close-range, must-goal shot!

Blocked from the door line!

Skrtel who came over quickly made a clearance! Corner kick! Everton's corner kick!

5 minutes extra time!

Everton still has a chance to take a corner kick!

Jadelka, Lescott also came to the Zenit half, ready to fight for the header!

In the Premier League, set-pieces are also Everton's scoring tool. However, Everton, who is mainly defensive in this game, hardly has many opportunities for set-pieces. There were very few set-piece opportunities before this game. I don't know. Can Everton's set-piece surprise us!

Arteta, run up, kick off!

This ball! The arc is extremely high!

Later!

Tek, who was in charge of man-marking Lescott, didn't stand his ground!

Lescott jumps high! In the back position! Hit the ball back to the center!

There is chaos in the restricted area!

Hagan, Skrtel, Jajelka, and Anichebe were in a mess. The ball was crowded and there was no effective competition for the top!

The ball landed in the penalty area!

This ball!

Entered?!

Go in like this?

Zenit, who had an advantage in the normal game, was defeated in the end!

Anichebe!

During stoppage time, taking advantage of the chaos in the penalty area, Anichebe took the lead to grab the spot and scored successfully! The goalkeeper didn't respond at such a close distance and his sight was disturbed!

1 to 0, Everton took the lead at their home court!

Zenit, who had the advantage and initiative throughout the game, was not defeated by the opponent's counterattack this time, but made a huge mistake in the set-piece defense!

A series of mistakes caused this conceded goal. Zenit failed to send itself to the knockout round in the away game. On the contrary, because of this unexpected backwardness, the probability of getting out of the game increased sharply!

The Zenit players are in a trance. Perhaps the Zenit players who have been in the Russian Super League for one season will not expect to encounter such a big dilemma in the group stage of the Europa League. Getting out is a luxury!

The last 3 minutes! The Zenit players obviously lost their spirits, and most of them ended the offensive round with long shots! Although Tymoshchuk's long shots also hit within the range of the goal frame, they played really well. It's too upright, it was directly confiscated by Howard!

The game is over! Everton, sitting at home, relied on Anichebe's 91-minute goal to beat the visiting Russian Super League champion Zenit. First!

Zenit has only 5 points with 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss! It is temporarily ranked second in the group!

However, Zenit, who has a bye in the last round, can only cheer for the Greek team Larissa or Everton, hoping to contain Nuremberg or Alkmaar, who also have 4 points!

This is football! Zenit, who created more chances throughout the game, did not score a single goal; Zenit's central defenders, who were not good at defending the opponent's counterattack, finally lost the blame; but in the final stage of the game, they were positioning. Mistakes on the ball, goals scored, Zenit's trip to the group stage is really sad!

Zenit's fate will be decided in the UEFA Europa League group stage two weeks later. The other two qualifying places in Group A will be determined by the final round of matches. Let us wait and see!