Soccer:Nicolas Lombaerts powered home a header seconds before the break to boost Zenit St Petersburg's hopes of a place in the Champions League knock-out stage after a 1-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk at Petrovsky Stadion.
The home side were more than worthy of a victory that carried them to the top of Group G on seven points after a tough struggle against a visiting side whose qualifications hopes are probably over after this defeat.
Shakhtar remain bottom of the section on two points from their four games. The side from the Ukraine rode their luck for the majority of the first half, but were finally undone when they went to sleep from a corner a minute into time added on in the first half.
Unfortunately for Shakhtar, Belgian defender Lombaerts did not as he rose to net from Victor Fayzulin’s corner to seal a gritty win. Shakhtar are now winless in their last six Champions League games – a club record – having lost four of those games with two draws.
Zenit extended their unbeaten home run to 16 matches with this victory, and are well placed to advance in the tournament.
Renan Bressan’s penalty gave Bate Borisov a 1-1 draw with AC Milan in their Champions League clash. Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored in the 22nd minute to reward the Serie A champions’ dominance until teammate Ignazio Abate gave away a penalty, which Bressan converted in the 55th minute.
Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri and his team had wanted to win for teammate Antonio Cassano, who has been in hospital after falling ill on the flight back to Milan following its 3-2 win at Roma on Saturday.
