Former Russian Premier League referee Igor Fedotov has weighed in on a contentious moment during the match between Zenit St. Petersburg and Sochi.
In the 12th minute, head referee Rafael Shafeev awarded a penalty to Zenit after contact between Sochi defender Zakhar Fedorov and Zenit midfielder Maksim Glushenkov. Fedotov stated that the decision was correct.
“Shafeev was right to give the penalty. Many thought that the Sochi player simply stuck out his leg and Glushenkov went down on his own, but that’s not the case,” Fedotov told Championat.com.
According to the former official, the foul is clearly visible on the replay from the lower camera angle. “Fedorov caught Glushenkov on the thigh. It’s a clear penalty. Shafeev was in the right position and had full control of the situation,” Fedotov added.
The match ended with a 2-1 victory for Zenit. Despite missing the resulting penalty through Luis Henrique, Zenit secured the win with goals from the same player later on and Aleksandr Erokhin, while Sochi’s Zakhar Fedorov had earlier leveled the score.