Zenit St. Petersburg sits in third place in Champions League Group H after Wednesday's 4-0 stomping of Swedish side Malmö, level on points with Chelsea. Zenit opened group play with a 1-0 defeat to the Blues, its first loss of the season, on Sep. 14.
Sergei Semak's team coasted to victory in its second UCL outing of the season, already up 2-0 when Malmö's Anel Ahmedhodžić was sent off for a handball after 53 minutes.
Aleksei Sutormin scored Zenit's third with an absolute stunner of a curling effort in the 80th minute, putting the result beyond doubt (if there had been any left until that point). The 27-year-old took up the ball about 30 yards from goal and found himself invited to shoot as no Malmö player closed him down. Sutormin made the defense pay for switching off, rifling home his first-ever goal in UEFA competition.
Four goals, three points
Zenit's third goal though pic.twitter.com/GgRgtunUpk— CBS Sports Golazo (@CBSSportsGolazo) September 29, 2021
Also on the scoresheet for Zenit were Claudinho, Daler Kuzayav and Wendel. Malmö remains rooted to the bottom of the group, having dropped its opening game 3-0 to Juventus.
Zenit leads the Russian Premier League with seven victories in nine games and has won four in a row. Sutormin, playing mainly as a right wing-back in Zenit's setup, has scored three of the team's 21 league goals this season. Next up for Semak's men is a clash with PFC Sochi, currently sixth in Russia's top division. A tougher challenge beckons in the Champions League as Zenit hosts Juventus on Oct. 20.
