Luciano Spalletti has defended out-of-form Hulk after their narrow 1-0 win in the UEFA Champions League tie against Anderlecht and has showered praise on Aleksandr Kerzhakov
Zenit St. Petersburg recorded their first win in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League this term after defeating http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/RSC-Anderlecht-c40394 1-0 at Petrovsky stadium on Tuesday. Aleksandr Kerzhakov converted from the penalty spot to
claim valuable points in Europe.
The defending Russian Premier League champions claimed all three points after losing their first two group stage matches against Malaga and AC Milan respectively. The St. Petersburg club have now climbed up to the 3rd
spot on their respective group table with three points.
However, they still have to win difficult away matches against the likes of the Italian giants and the Belgian champions if they are to reach the later stage of the continental tournament.
In the aftermath of the outcome, Luciano Spalletti has hailed his side despite a narrow win, saying that although they played defensive football in the European meeting but the final result is what matters in the end.
“I am happy with the result and the game. The only thing that I'm not happy about is the number of scoring chances we wasted. We need to keep winning. It is good that we have earned three points but we must move forward.” The former
AS http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Roma-c31603 coach was quoted as saying.
Spalletti went on to defend under-fire striker, Hulk, insisting that the Brazilian International had a bad day.
Hulk, who joined the St. Petersburg club from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Porto-c39186 for a reported 60 million Euros this summer, failed to impress in despite completing 90 minutes on the pitch
“Today he was out of luck. Hulk is often mistaken for handling the ball but I think there nothing in it. I don’t think http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hulk-c16436 had a good match.” he said.
Commenting on http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sevilla-FC-c40484 striker and urged him to score more goals in the continental tournament.
Kerzhakov scored his first goal for the Russian outfit in the group stages of the competition since making a move from Dynamo Moscow back in 2009.
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