Gent block Zenit's quest for perfect Champions League group stage

By Jerry Trecker
Published

KAA Gent prevented Zenit St. Petersburg from completing the seventh perfect Champions League group stage performance in the history of the competition with a 2-1 victory Wednesday night, qualifying for the knockout stages in the process.

Goals from Laurent Depoitre and Danijel Milicevic spoiled Zenit's party and gave the hosts a deserved victory.

Zenit, which had already clinched the top spot in Group H, hoped to add their name to a list of Champions League group stage unbeatens that includes AC Milan, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Spartak Moscow and Real Madrid (twice) but they got started too late in Belgium then allowed Milicevic to beat them after Artem Dzyuba had levelled matters in the second half.

Missing suspended Axel Witsel and the injured Brazilian star Hulk, Andre Villas-Boas' team sputtered too often and did not not find any true attacking rhythm until the second half. The absence of Hulk out wide was particularly noticeable.

Gent started fast and saw the early pressure payoff in the 18th minute when Depoitre got inside his defender to head home from Moses Simon's cross on the left. Zenit keeper Yuri Lodygin produced a couple of excellent saves to keep the Belgians friom adding to that margin in the opening 45 minutes.

Gent's Matz Sels did not have a major save to make until early in the second half when he parried, then held a drive from Aleksandr Ryazantsev as Zenit began to get more of the ball but the equalizer owed as much to a Gent defensive lapse as anything the visitors created.

Dzyuba capitalizied on a dreadful clearance attempt from Sven Kums that Lasse Nielsen then failed to respond to in the 65th minute, sliding the ball past Sels from close range.

Milicevic then grabbed the winner with 12 minutes left, rocketing home a fine goal from eight yards that sent the Ghelamco Stadium crowd into roars of joy. As it turned out, with Lyon beating Valencia in Spain, the Belgians would have advanced anyway, but Milicevic's sweet strike sent them forward with a smile.