Intro:

Zenit St Petersburg and Spartak Moscow drew 0-0 in a tightly contested Russian Premier League encounter on Saturday (27 September).

Script:

Zenit St Petersburg hosted rivals Spartak Moscow in the Russian Premier League on Saturday as they looked to continue their winning start to the season.

But it was the visitors who nearly opened the scoring when Jose Manuel Jorado hit the upright following a quick counter attack.

Just before half time Viktor Faizulin thought he'd put Zenit ahead with a rocket from outside the box, but Salomon Rondon was caught offside.

The second half, played in front of Russia head coach Fabio Capello, was a largely uneventful affair, though the hosts nearly won it at the death.

Ezequiel Garay's 95th minute free header glanced wide as Spartak became the first team to take points off Andre Villas Boas' men.