Tuesday, October 21, 2008

BATE Borisov earns a draw at Petrovsky












Belarusian champions BATE Borisov handed Zenit Saint Petersburg a bitter 1-1 draw at Petrovsky Stadium in Champions League action earlier today.

In a match where Zenit's flourishing attacked created endless scoring opportunities it was the visitors who scored first with Pavel Nekhaychik finding the back of the net seven minutes after the break on a perfect set-up by Gennadi Bliznyuk.

From the opening whistle Zenit's attack was on the hunt for goals. Only eleven minutes into the match a perfect set-up from Danni to Andrei Arshavin, who crossed into the box and headed towards the net by Konstantin Zyryanov but the BATE 'keeper denied them. Portuguese international Danni continued to flourish including when his powerful drive struck the crossbar at the thirty-minute mark. However it wasn't till ten minutes remaining that Fatih Tekke pulled in Roman Shirokov's long pass and drove it pass BATE 'keeper Sergei Veremko.











Sitting at the bottom of their group with only a single point, one behind BATE and both Real Madrid and Juventus comfortably ahead, Zenit must turn its focus upon winning out and gaining a berth in the UEFA Cup.