3 things we learned from Zenit’s 1-0 win over Benfica

Zenit St. Petersburg are in excellent position in the UEFA Champions League, while Benfica are headed out after the Russian side’s 1-0 win on Wednesday.

Julio Cesar was forced into action early, and he didn’t do a great job dealing with a vicious sixth minute free kick by Hulk. He fumbled the ball, causing a huge scramble in the box, but Zenit couldn’t capitalize and Cesar eventually reclaimed.

Benfica’s best chance of the first half came in the 38th minute, off an impressive run by Nico Gaitan. He took off down the left flank and played an excellent cross for Eduardo Salvio, but Zenit keeper Yuri Lodygin did well to come off his line quickly, getting himself in good position to block Salvio’s shot.

Luisao should have put Benfica ahead in the 50th minute, but looked the part of a central defender in a spot you’d want a center forward. After Zenit cleared a corner away, their defense didn’t step up quickly enough, and Luisao was one-on-one with Lodygin when the ball was sent back in. Unfortunately for the Portuguese champion, he kicked the ball straight at the Zenit keeper.

The hosts went ahead in the 79th minute, and in impressive fashion, with Hulk and captain Danny combining for the goal. Hulk curled a perfect ball to the near post, though it took an odd skip off some uneven turf. Danny was unfazed, controlled the ball beautifully, then beat Cesar with his second touch.

Zenit St. Petersburg: Lodygin, Criscito, Garay, Lombaerts (Neto 23’), Anyukov, Witsel, Garcia (Fayzulin 58’), Danny, Ryazantsev (Shatov 65’), Hulk, Rondon

Goals: Danny (79’)

Benfica: Cesar, Almeida, Jardel, Luisao (red 90’), Pereira, Perez, Salvio, Talisca (Derley 70’), Gaitan, Lima, Samaris (John 82’)

Goals: None.

1. Benfica made a bad sub - Axel Witsel and Javi Garcia are good enough players that they can control the midfield against most teams, but Garcia wasn’t at his best in this one, and Benfica were better throughout the first hour of the game with a three-on-two midfield advantage. But Jorge Jesus brought on Derley, a forward, to replace Talisca, an attacking midfielder, in the 70th minute. At that point, Zenit got control of the game and it only took them nine minutes to score.

2. Hulk looks like a world class player - Hulk’s career has stalled considerably since he opted to move to Zenit St. Petersburg instead of one of England or Spain’s giants, but he looked like the Porto version of Hulk on Wednesday. He set up Danny’s goal with a great ball and was a threat all game, both setting up his teammates and ripping powerful shots. If Andre Villas-Boas can get this version of Hulk in the spring, Zenit might even win a knockout stage tie.

3. Zenit coped well with being forced into subs - Villas-Boas only had one tactical sub at this disposal, as he was forced to replace Nicolas Lombaerts in the first half and Javi Garcia before the hour mark. Even though Neto isn’t the same caliber of defender that Lombaerts is and Viktor Fayzulin is a much different kind of player than Garcia, they didn’t skip a beat.