Ejuke bags assist in CSKA Moscow defeat to Zenit St. Petersburg

Chidera Ejuke provided an assist in CSKA Moscow’s 3-2 defeat to Zenit St. Petersburg in Wednesday’s Russian Premier League game.

The winger was handed his 11th league start of the season and made the most of the opportunity, delivering an impressive performance in the encounter.

The Nigeria international ignited the surge of goals in the 28th minute when he set up Jose Salomon Rondon to open the scoring.

Artem Dzyuba levelled the proceedings for Zenit St. Petersburg in the 33rd minute after benefitting from Daler Kuzyaev’s assist.

Dzyuba then missed a glorious opportunity to put the Blue-White-Sky Blues in front moments before the half-time break, when he failed to convert his penalty kick.

Dzyuba made amends for his missed chance when he set up Wendel to give Zenit the lead in the 50th minute and completed his brace in the 77th minute.

Nikola Vlasic then scored from the penalty spot at the death to reduce the deficit for CSKA Moscow but the Blue-White-Sky Blues managed to hold on to their lead to secure all three points in the encounter.

Ejuke featured for the duration of the game in his 24th appearance for the Red and Blues across all competitions.

CSKA Moscow are now winless in their last two games after also losing to Arsenal Tula last time out.

The unimpressive performances have seen them drop to the third spot on the Premier League table with 40 points from 23 games.

Ejuke teamed up with CSKA Moscow from Dutch side Heerenveen and has scored two goals and provided two assists since his arrival.

The forward will hope to continue with his impactful contributions for CSKA Moscow when they take on Tambov in their next league game on April 4.

Ejuke has not been included in Nigeria’s squad for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against the Republic of Benin and Lesotho later this month.

The 23-year-old forward will hope to make a return to the West African side in their next outing.