Lombaerts and Anyukov champion resolute Zenit

Match-winner Nicolas Lombaerts paid tribute to a solid defensive performance from FC Zenit St Petersburg after scoring the only goal against FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Right-back Aleksandr Anyukov echoed the Belgian international's comments but stressed that Luciano Spalletti's second-placed side cannot afford to rest on their laurels, warning "nothing has been decided and there is still a long way to go" in Group G.

Nicolas Lombaerts, Zenit defender
The next home game [against APOEL] will also be important, but for now I just want to enjoy our victory. We could have also won the last match in Donestk, but we managed to get the win we needed at home so it doesn't matter too much.

Today was a different game and we defended excellently. We had a number of chances and when [Olexandr] Rybka started to make so many great saves I thought 'oh no, not again'. Thankfully we managed to get a goal in added time at the end of the first half and that was absolutely crucial. In the second half the weather conditions were against us, there was a strong wind which helped them to keep us encamped in our half, but we didn't want to get caught out with too many men upfield so we decided to play with a bit more caution.

Aleksandr Anyukov, Zenit defender 
We played really well in defence, and the most important thing was that we didn't concede. Thankfully we managed to score and get all three points. However, we need to keep on moving forward. We can't look too far ahead because we have two games to come which we must try to win. Despite this victory, nothing has been decided and there is still a long way to go. The second half was very tough, as Shakhtar enjoyed a lot of possession. They managed to create three chances but we were solid in defence and didn't give them a sniff.

Eduardo, Shakhtar forward
I would like to congratulate Zenit because they played very well. It was really hard for the team to react after conceding just before half-time. We responded well and were positive in the second half, but unfortunately we still lost. We now have to rely on other results if we want to make the next round, but there are still six points to play for. We can still mathematically qualify, so we must not give up hope.

Darijo Srna, Shakhtar captain
I said that the match in St Petersburg would be a completely different game to the one in Donetsk. We were awful in the first half and our biggest problem is that we concede too many goals from corners, just like today.

In the second half we played better and had a lot of possession and we were on top for much of the half. Zenit were forced to defend more but unfortunately we were unable to create any real opportunities. I don't think we had a cutting edge in front of goal tonight and to be honest that has been our problem throughout this season's competition.