Zenit Beat Anzhi, End Champion Season on a High

© RIA Novosti . Maxim Bogodvid / Go to the mediabankAlexander Bukharov
Alexander Bukharov - Sputnik International
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Two second-half goals gave champions Zenit St. Petersburg a 2-0 win over Anzhi Makhachkala on the final day of the Russian Premier League season on Sunday.

Two second-half goals gave champions Zenit St. Petersburg a 2-0 win over Anzhi Makhachkala on the final day of the Russian Premier League season on Sunday.

Zenit won a second-successive title three matches ago, but went out on a high in Makhachkala despite fielding a second-string side.

Alexander Bukharov struck the opener just after the restart, turning home Andrei Arshavin's delightful outside-of-the-boot cross that left the Anzhi defense standing.

Zenit substitute Szabolcs Huszti made it two on 85 minutes, poking the ball under Yevgeny Pomazan in the Anzhi goal.

The result gives Zenit 88 points from this extended 44-match season, a 13-point margin of victory over Spartak Moscow, who clinched second place and the second Champions League place by beating Lokomotiv Moscow 2-0 earlier Sunday.

Guus Hiddink's Anzhi had already secured fifth place in the league, guaranteeing a Europa League berth. It was Hiddink's fourth defeat in 12 games since joining in February.

In the Dagestani capital, Anzhi worked hard in midfield but did too little to trouble Yuri Zhevnov's goal.

Samuel Eto'o floated an early free kick just over Zhevnov's goal in an early sign of menace.

The Cameroonian then fired a vicious low cross through the box that Shamil Lakhialov nearly turned in.

Eto'o almost walked the ball in before being crowded out, then play turned to the other end as Viktor Faizulin cracked a long-range drive straight at Yevgeny Pomazan in the Anzhi goal.

Bukharov, in for rested striker Alexander Kerzhakov, had a close-range header turned over by Pomazan on 19 minutes.

Zenit's Bruno Alves hit a fierce drive from all 35 yards that moved in the air and was palmed away by Pomazan.

In the second half, Arshavin embarked on a weaving run down the right but dragged his shot just wide, his last action of the season, substituted for Szabolcs Huszti.

The Hungarian ended a Zenit counterattack on 67 minutes with a low shot that dribbled through to Pomazan.

Zhevnov made a stunning late save to maintain the score.

In other final-day games in the top half, CSKA Moscow fell to a 3-1 defeat at Rubin Kazan, and Dynamo Moscow and FC Kuban drew 1-1.

In the lower half, Terek Grozny and Krylya Sovetov played out a 1-1 draw; Amkar Perm beat FC Volga 4-1, while relegated FC Tomsk bowed out with a 2-1 home against FC Rostov and bottom club Spartak Nalchik drew 3-3 with FC Krasnodar.

 

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