ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA // Ruud van Nistelrooy scored the winning goal to give Real Madrid a 2-1 victory over Zenit St Petersburg in Group H of the Champions League.
The prolific Dutch striker van Nistelrooy scored with a left-foot shot in on the half-hour, ending Madrid's poor away record in the competition.
The nine-time champions have not won in seven matches on the road since beating Steaua Bucharest 4-1 in Romania in October 2006.
"We scored a very important and very tough victory," the Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster said.
Los Galacticos took the lead in the fourth minute when Tomas Hubocan scored an own-goal, trying to clear Rafael van der Vaart's cross from the right.
Zenit needed time to recover and started to threaten Madrid's defence down the left flank. In the 25th minute, Radek Sirl put Andrei Arshavin down the left and Danny leapt to meet the cross and beat the Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas with his right foot.
Six minutes later, van Nistelrooy capitalised on Hubocan's sloppy play in the box.
"Our opponent's class showed through," Arshavin said. "They capitalised on their chances, while we had many and did not score."
Zenit dominated the game in the second half and came close many times.
"St Petersburg deserved a draw," Schuster said. "But for some reason in the first half, they didn't play the way we expected them to. Only after substitutions in the second half did they raise the tempo."
In the 73rd minute, the Zenit coach Dick Advocaat put in two fresh strikers - Alejandro Dominguez and Fatih Tekke. Three minutes later, Tekke forced Casillas to make a stunning save.
Danny missed the host team's last chance by shooting over the crossbar in injury time.
"I am really disappointed with the result," Advocaat said.
Advocaat blamed his players for poor finishing.
"We created an unimaginable number of chances, but couldn't score," Advocaat said. "I can't step on the pitch to do it instead of the players."
Madrid were without the core of their midfield with Wesley Sneijder, Guti and Fernando Gago. They had missed the trip to St Petersburg to recover from injuries.
Schuster said he had planed to put Raul into action last night, but decided to let him rest after a tough match in the Spanish league.
"It's so important that we have so many strong players in our team that we have possibility of rotating them," the German coach said.
Madrid has six points from two games in Group H, while Zenit remained winless with no points.
Zenit next hosts BATE Borisov on Oct 21, while Madrid visits Juventus.
*AP
AaB Aalborg 0 Man Utd 3
Villarreal 1 Celtic 0
Bayern Munich 1 Lyon 1
Fiorentina 0 Steaua Bucharest 0
Arsenal 4 FC Porto 0
Fenerbahce 0 Dynamo Kiev 0
BATE Borisov 2 Juventus 2
Zenit St Petersburg 1 Real Madrid 2
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How The Debt Panel's advice helped readers in 2019
December 11: 'My husband died, so what happens to the Dh240,000 he owes in the UAE?'
JL, a housewife from India, wrote to us about her husband, who died earlier this month. He left behind an outstanding loan of Dh240,000 and she was hoping to pay it off with an insurance policy he had taken out. She also wanted to recover some of her husband’s end-of-service liabilities to help support her and her son.
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November 26: ‘I owe Dh100,000 because my employer has not paid me for a year’
SL, a financial services employee from India, left the UAE in June after quitting his job because his employer had not paid him since November 2018. He owes Dh103,800 on four debts and was told by the panellists he may be able to use the insolvency law to solve his issue.
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October 15: 'I lost my job and left the UAE owing Dh71,000. Can I return?'
MS, an energy sector employee from South Africa, left the UAE in August after losing his Dh12,000 job. He was struggling to meet the repayments while securing a new position in the UAE and feared he would be detained if he returned. He has now secured a new job and will return to the Emirates this month.
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If you go
Flight connections to Ulaanbaatar are available through a variety of hubs, including Seoul and Beijing, with airlines including Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air. While some nationalities, such as Americans, don’t need a tourist visa for Mongolia, others, including UAE citizens, can obtain a visa on arrival, while others including UK citizens, need to obtain a visa in advance. Contact the Mongolian Embassy in the UAE for more information.
Nomadic Road offers expedition-style trips to Mongolia in January and August, and other destinations during most other months. Its nine-day August 2020 Mongolia trip will cost from $5,250 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar, vehicle rental, fuel, third party vehicle liability insurance, the services of a guide and support team, accommodation, food and entrance fees; nomadicroad.com
A fully guided three-day, two-night itinerary at Three Camel Lodge costs from $2,420 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and excursions including the Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs. A return internal flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad costs $300 per person and the flight takes 90 minutes each way; threecamellodge.com
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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