Friday, March 29, 2024

Villas-Boas heaps praise on Zenit

SoccerNews in General Soccer News 17 Sep 2014

68 Views

Andre Villas-Boas labelled Zenit’s trip to Benfica as a “total success” after the Russian champions won 2-0 on Tuesday.

First-half goals from Hulk and Axel Witsel saw Zenit assume early command of UEFA Champions League Group C.

Brazil international Hulk broke the deadlock after just five minutes, silencing the Estadio da Luiz crowd with a sumptuous dink over goalkeeper Artur.

Artur was later sent off in the 18th minute for hauling down Zenit captain Danny, virtually ending Benfica’s hopes of salvaging anything from the match.

And Zenit made the most of their numerical advantage through Witsel’s header four minutes later as Benfica crashed to their first home defeat in 52 matches.

“The first half was good for us. Benfica struggled after the red card. In the second half we wanted to get the third, but we always controlled the match,” said Villas-Boas.

“We had some chances that we missed but Benfica could have also made it 2-1, but it’s excellent to win away.

“Doing it in a hard group such as this one was fundamental, moreover in a stadium that hadn’t seen a home defeat for so long.

“It was a total success to us, in a good performance, controlling the game.”

The win in Lisbon gave Zenit an 11th consecutive win in all competitions, with their last defeat coming at the hands of AEL 1-0 in the third round of qualifying.

Zenit reached the round of 16 in 2013-14 but Villas-Boas insisted it was too early to be looking beyond the group stages.

“It’s premature to speak about it [last 16], it depends on the result of the next match,” the Portuguese tactician said.

“If we beat Monaco then we could be in a good position to go through. In an even group it was important to score points away. Let’s see what we now do at home.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SoccerNews

Soccernews.com is news blog for soccer with comprehensive coverage of all the major leagues in Europe, as well as MLS in the United States. In addition we offer breaking news for transfers and transfer rumors, ticket sales, betting tips and offers, match previews, and in-depth editorials.

You can follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/soccernews.com or Twitter: @soccernewsfeed.

SHARE OR COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE

WE RECOMMEND

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This field is required *

Join the conversation!

or Register

Live Scores

advertisement

Betting Guide Advertisement

advertisement

Become a Writer
More More
Top