Soccer

Dundalk upended by Zenit St Petersburg

Dundalk’s David McMillan is brought down by Zenit St Petersburg’s Domenico Criscito (left) during the Uefa Europa League Group D clash at Tallaght Stadium last night. Left: Ronan Finn reacts after missing a chance. Picture: PA
Dundalk’s David McMillan is brought down by Zenit St Petersburg’s Domenico Criscito (left) during the Uefa Europa League Group D clash at Tallaght Stadium last night. Left: Ronan Finn reacts after missing a chance. Picture: PA Dundalk’s David McMillan is brought down by Zenit St Petersburg’s Domenico Criscito (left) during the Uefa Europa League Group D clash at Tallaght Stadium last night. Left: Ronan Finn reacts after missing a chance. Picture: PA

TWO moments of magic in the second half from Zenit St Petersburg ended Dundalk’s hopes of causing the biggest upset in this season’s Europa League.

Goals from Robert Mak and Giuliano sunk the brave Irish men after the irrepressible Robbie Benson shocked the visitors with a long range effort.

But Benson’s 52nd minute goal forced Zenit to up their tempo and they punished their hosts with two well worked goals.

But Dundalk deserve massive credit for holding their illustrious opponents for so long as they more than punched their weight in this Group D clash in Tallaght Stadium.

Despite last night’s defeat, Dundalk still harbour realistic hopes of making the knock-out phase.

Monday night’s 3-0 away win over Longford moved Dundalk within touching distance of a third successive league title.

A victory over Bohemians on Sunday evening could well be enough to keep the coveted piece of silverware in Oriel Park for another season as Cork City’s league challenge starts to flag.

But the win over Longford three nights earlier didn’t come without cost as manager Stephen Kenny admitted there were a lot of “tired bodies” and a raft of injury concerns.

But Sean Gannon and Chris Shields were passed fit for last night’s daunting encounter in Tallaght, while John Mountney was fit enough to take his place on the bench despite a back injury.

Club captain and midfield metronome Stephen O’Donnell was already ruled out of last night’s tie with a hamstring injury.

Indeed, the only change to the Dundalk side that defeated Macaibi Tel Aviv at the end of last month was the inclusion of goalkeeper Gabriel Sava who has been preferred to regular netminder Gary Rogers since the side’s vital league win over Cork City last week. 

Although Zenit had already bagged two wins out of two in Group D, their manager Mircea Lucescu fielded close to his strongest line-up against the League of Ireland champions.

Juventus target Axel Witsel and former Man City ace Javi Garcia anchored midfield, while wide players Robert Mak and Oleg Shatov were given licence to push forward and assist Brazilian international striker Giuliano and experienced Russian international Artem Dzyuba.

But, just as they’ve done in the Europa League so far, the Irish champions showed scant regard for big reputations and went closest to opening the scoring in the seventh minute through Ronan Finn.

The slick passing move had Dundalk written all over it. Gannon slid the ball into the David McMillan and the striker’s clever flick released Finn down the right flank.

He left Nicolas Lombaerts in his wake but the Dundalk midfielder’s low drive missed Zenit’s far post by inches.

The Russians had plenty of possession in the first half – 67 per cent – and while veteran right back Aleksandr Anyukov, roving attacker Giuliano and Oleg Shatov posed a threat, Dundalk ’keeper Gabriel Sava didn’t have a meaningful save to make. 

In fact, Dane Massey had a header that just cleared the Zenit crossbar on 36 minutes from a Dundalk corner.

A few minutes before the break Anyukov wasted a glorious opportunity when he neither crossed nor shot and the ball fizzed harmlessly wide of Dundalk’s goal.

In the second half, Shatov made the same mistake as Anyukov and Sava remained untested.

But then another Dundalk moment that sent shockwaves around Europe when they opened the scoring on 52 minutes through Robbie Benson’s (left) wicked left-footed drive from 25 yards that completely decei ved Yuri Lodygin in the Zenit goal.

Dundalk were full value for their 1-0 lead. And they were desperately unlucky not to double their lead when Dane Massey’s header came off the foot of the Zenit post after a glorious free-kick delivery from the impressive Daryl Horgan. 

Just when the Lilywhites supporters thought the mother of all shocks was on the cards, the Russians went through the gears and grabbed two goals in a devastating six-minute period to puncture the home side’s lofty ambitions. 

On 71 minutes, Robert Mak finished to the net after Sava hacked a clearance up in the air. The mistake was punished to the fullest when Domenico Criscito laid off the ball for Mak to score.

Six minutes later, Giuliano played a brilliant one-two with Witsel and the little Brazilian side-footed home from close range.

Brian Gartland, who was superb at the heart of the Dundalk defence, conceded a late penalty, but Sava denied Zenit substitute Maurico from 12 yards.

It was another gargantuan effort from Stephen Kenny’s men but they just fell short. It’s the first time they’ve experienced defeat in Group D - but they still have a great chance of reaching the next phase of the competition.