Ekaterina Pantyukhina / Photo: © Mikhail Zimin / Match TV
Zenit football player Ekaterina Pantyukhina told Match TV the mood with which her team is approaching the decisive title match with CSKA.
The game of the final round of the Women’s Super League will take place on Saturday, November 16, in St. Petersburg and will begin at 17:00. Zenit leads the championship (65 points), the blue-white-blue are three points ahead of the Moscow team in the standings.
— How are you preparing for the decisive match with CSKA?
“We’re in a great mood—we’re already looking forward to the match. We are sure that many of our fans will come and it will be a wonderful atmosphere: evening St. Petersburg, filled stands. And good quality football. Therefore, I invite everyone to this game, and then we’ll see.
— Zenit could have become the champion in the penultimate round if CSKA had misfired. Did you follow their match?
— We found out how CSKA played after the fact, because the priority was their own match. We did everything that depended on us – we didn’t lose a single match in the championship. But everything will still be decided in the last round. This is what gives our meeting special colors and interest. Moreover, the scenario of last season is being repeated, when the tournament layout in the final round was exactly the same.
— What can you say about CSKA’s game?
— The team has several schemes; they can play with five or four defenders. The game will be very interesting.
— Is it difficult not to pay attention to the fact that Zenit is satisfied with a draw?
— Are we satisfied with a draw? This happened last year too, and we played against CSKA away. However, we confidently won both the game and the score. Therefore, I can say for sure that we will not sit in a low defense and will not keep a zero score. I have no doubt that the spectators will see attacking football from our side.
— This is the first final for you. There is a secret that you definitely won’t do in front of him, but what will you do?
“It’s clear that I’ll be going over some points in my head. But the most important thing is the attitude. Whoever wants to win will definitely win,” Pantyukhina told Match TV.
Watch the live broadcast of the Zenit – CSKA game on Saturday on the Match TV channels (from 16:30) and MATCH PREMIER (from 16:55), as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
