ZENIT St Petersburg were held to a 0-0 home draw by Juventus last night, leaving Dick Advocaat's side with only an outside chance of reaching the Champions League knockout round.
The Italians, who had already qualified for the last 16, dominated in the first half and hit the post twice as the temperatures dipped below zero in Russia's second city.
The home side, who had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half,
increased the pressure after the interval but wasted a number of chances.
The draw left third-placed Zenit on five points from five matches in Group H and needing Real Madrid to drop points against Champions League debutants BATE Borisov later last night to stay in the elite competition.
Juve, who were missing seven key players through injury including goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, midfielder Cristiano Zanetti and striker David Trezeguet, hit the post twice in the first 22 minutes.
Defender Olof Mellberg struck the woodwork with a header from close range following a Mauro Camoranesi free kick. Then, Vincenzo Iaquinta was denied after a neat exchange between Pavel Nedved and Zdenek Grygera on the left.
Alessandro Del Piero, who gave Juve a 1-0 win over Zenit in their first match in Turin in September, tested goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev with a powerful drive from the edge of the box right after the interval.
The Juve captain also wasted an excellent chance ten minutes later after being left unmarked with the goal at his mercy.
Uefa Cup holders Zenit, who had trouble penetrating a tight Juventus defence in the first half, went close to breaking the deadlock twice in less than two minutes after the break.
First, Portugal international Danny wasted a golden chance in the 66th minute before Russia striker Pavel Pogrebnyak hit the post with a low drive a minute later. Danny, Zenit's record 30million signing from Dynamo Moscow this summer, missed the last scoring opportunity late in the match when his low shot just went wide off the far post.
The match went ahead despite being put in doubt by an explosion in St Petersburg earlier in the day. Three people, including a child, were killed when a grenade exploded near a metro station close to the Russian team's training ground.
Heightened security measures were immediately put in place for the match and Uefa, who were keen for the match to go ahead, kept a close eye on the situation before clearing the game to be played.
Zenit St Petersburg: Malafeev, Aniukov, Lombaerts, Krizanac, Sirl, Denisov, Tymoschuk, Danny, Zyryanov, Arshavin, Pogrebniak. Subs: Contofalsky, Kim, Dominguez, Tekke, Hubocan, Shirokov, Faitzulin.
Juventus: Manninger, Grygera, Mellberg, Chiellini, Molinaro, Camoranesi, Sissoko, Marchisio, Nedved, Del Piero, Iaquinta. Subs: Chimenti, Amauri, Giovinco, De Ceglie, Marchionni, Legrottaglie, Rossi.
The full article contains 470 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
