Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Zenit Saint Petersburg falls short to Juventus

Zenit Saint Petersburg's dreams of advancing to the Champions League knockout stage came crashing down as they played to a scoreless draw against Serie A giants Juventus. With their typical brilliant fan support as the backdrop of Petrovsky Stadium, Zenit played a superb attacking match but with each advance Juventus' defensive play were the perfect chess move. Each squad had its chances but 'keepers Viacheslav Malafeev and Alex Manninger were up to every challenge. Ukraine international Anatoliy Tymoschuk looked to have given Zenit the lead eight minutes before the break but the Juventus' Austrian capped 'keeper stretched-out to deny the save. Zenit's final close encounter came six minutes past the hour mark Russian marksmen Pavel Pogrebniak looked to have the winner but his drive slammed off the post and gradually the match wound down to nil draw.