Zenit suffers loss to Fenerbahce in Istanbul

Russian football club loses in Europa League opener

1-0 score extends Zenit’s winless streak to four matches

Russian Premier League leaders Zenit St Petersburg suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Fenerbahce in their opening match of the Europa League group stage on Thursday.

The only goal of the game came in the 57th minute when Fenerbahce defender Attila Szalai headed home from a corner kick.

Zenit had chances to equalize, but they couldn't find a way past Fenerbahce goalkeeper Altay Bayındır, who made several key saves.

The defeat extends Zenit's winless streak to four matches in all competitions.

Zenit coach Sergei Semak was disappointed with his team's performance.

"We didn't play well enough today," Semak said. "We made too many mistakes and we didn't create enough chances.

“We need to improve our performance if we want to qualify for the knockout stages of the Europa League.”

Fenerbahce coach Jorge Jesus was delighted with his team's performance.

"We played a very good match today," Jesus said. "We were well-organized and we defended well.

"We created some good chances and we deserved to win.

"This is a very good start to our Europa League campaign.”

Fenerbahce are now top of Group C with three points, while Zenit are bottom with zero points.

Zenit will host Molde in their next Europa League match on September 15.