Zenit St Petersburg handed out a thrashing to newly promoted Torpedo Moscow in front of an Petrovsky stadium on Saturday.
The grounds was fully empty aside from press personnel due to Zenit fans action last season in a 4-2 defeat against Dynamo Moscow when fans invaded the pitch and Dynamo captain Vladimir Granat was punched.
The match started tentatively for Torpedo as goalkeeper Yuri Zhevnov made a great save from an unmarked Jose Salomon Rondon inside the box. It was more a question of when not if Zenit would score.
The break through came in the 26th minute as a lobbed through ball caught the whole Torpedo defence out leaving Igor Smolnikov costless to direct a header past the onrushing Zhevnov which hit the post and nestled in the back of the net. It didn't get any better for Torpedo, a mere 7 minutes later Hulk whipped a ball a delicious ball in that Rondon met with a beautiful flying scissor kick that Zhevnov got a hand to but couldn't keep out due to the sheer power of the shot.
3 minutes later and it was 3-0. A disgraceful penalty decision given by the referee for a high leg by Torpedo defender Adam Kokoszka. Hulk dispatched the penalty easily past Zhevnov, sending the Belarussian goalkeeper the wrong way.
One minute into the second half and it was starting to become a rout. Hulk won the ball in the centre circle, laid it off to Oleg Shatov who had his shot saved by Zhevnov but defender Lukas Tesak's dangled leg only pushed the ball into Rondon's path who slotted into an open goal. A few minutes later in was 5. Hulk playing a lovely one-two with Rondon, steamrollering into the penalty area and rounding Zhevnov, who was comically taken out by a pathetic attempted slide tackle block by his own player Tesak, leaving the Brazillian with an easy finish.
62 minutes gone and it was 6-0. Torpedo's woeful defence yet again parted leaving Danny to walk through before laying the ball off to an unmarked Shatov who had no problem dispatching past the helpless Zhevnov. I felt sorry for the keeper because of how little protection his shocking back four were giving him. 71 minutes and you've guessed it 7-0. Another dreadful penalty decision by the referee who this time penalised Dmitry Aidov for a tackle on Shatov even though replays clearly show that Aidov got the ball before touching Shatov. Aleksandr Kerzhakov stepped up and netted his 159th goal for Zenit slotting past a stationary Zhevnov.
78 minutes gone and it was 8-0. If it wasn't embarrassing enough for Torpedo Kerzhakov had a shot that right at Zhevnov in the Torpedo net, a bit of power on the shot but something an experienced stopper like Zhevnov should be dealing with easily. Instead he inexplicably managed to get both hands on the ball but still let it squirm in. 160 goals for Zenit's top goalscorer Kerzhakov.
And finally in the 85th minute Torpedo got a goal, can't even call it a consolation goal really. Substitute Aleksandr Salugin was brought down by a clumsy tackle from Belgian midfielder leaving Dmitry Aidov to salvage a little bit of pride for the Moscow side. The centre back put the ball past Yuri Lodygin. The stats of the game read that Zenit had 24 shots and 15 on target whilst Torpedo had 9 and 6 on target. So it could be argued that the result was slightly harsh on Torpedo but if you defend as dreadfully as Torpedo did on Saturday you're asking for a hammering against such a star studded side like Zenit.
Full time and Nikolai Savichev must rally his battered troops for Tuesdays crunch game with fellow relegation candidates Amkar Perm at home. The table currently leaves Torpedo in bottom of the table after 2 games with no points and a goal difference of -10 and Amkar Perm in 14th with no points also and a -5 goal difference. It looks like it's a must win game for Torpedo already.