Chelsea defender David Luiz was very lucky to avoid getting sent off when they thrashed United 4-0 in a Premier League game last week.

The Brazilian made a studs up challenge on Red Devil star Marouane Fellaini but the referee, Martin Atkinson refused to send off the player for the rough challenge. United fans and Pundits are still debating the actions of the referee. If the Brazilian had been sent off, it would have influenced the game in no small way even though the hosts were 2-0 up.

Atkinson handling of the affair raised eyebrows as it makes the third time in seven years that the referee had not ruled fair at Stamford Bridge when they hosted United.

“I know what you know. I know what everybody knows. Even when I was speaking to Sky, it was one of their questions, so we all know that. But in the end, it’s the result that stays, and when you lose 4-0, to come and speak about the referee, it looks like you are trying to get excuses,” Jose Mourinho said to Manchester United Television.

Manchester United went on to suffer one of their heaviest defeats. It added to the worrying situation at Old Trafford regarding their poor run despite the strong start this term under the Portuguese.

“I just hope that the press does the job in terms of analysing that situation but it’s not for me to speak about,” said Mourinho and the press definitely did that. Almost any verdict supported the notion that the Blues player should have seen a red card as against the yellow he received.

Atkinson made major errors in the 1-0 victory over Chelsea when they met in 2009. In 2011, Ferguson spoke strongly against the action of the same referee. The Scot was given a ban by the FA for describing the penalty Yuri Zhirkov won as ‘soft.’

Three goals from Zenit St. Petersburg in a space of 10 second half minutes was enough to ensure that they thrashed the visiting side, Rubin Kazan in their Russian Premier League encounter.

The home team made sure to score an emphatic 4 goals against Rubin Kazan therefore ensuring that they moved up to the third spot on their Premier League table.

Goals from Doeminico Criscito, Robert Mak, Giuliano and that of Artemis Dzyuba was enough to keep the home team in the lead before the visiting side was finally able to pull in a late consolation goal scored by their Brazilian striker, Jonathas.
In the wake of their last three league matches, Zenit have come off with no less than 12 goals which have now placed them just four points behind the current table league leaders, Spartak Moscow.

They also have an unbeaten run as well and their manager who has worried before the beginning of the match has now been able to calm down. His words,

“I was worried ahead of this game as I wasn’t sure my men will manage to recover from the Europa League match and a long flight back home. Luckily, everything was fine for us. I’m happy that we came into the match at full confidence and looked well throughout. I believe we could have scored more goals tonight.”

Zenit had come back fresh from their Europa League battle against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday. They were the visiting side this time around and from 0 – 3, Zenit found their way back to finally end the game at 4-3 thereby beating their hosts, Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The first goal came after former Dinamo Moscow’s player, Yuri Zhirkov who had joined Zenit during the transfer market in 2016 was felled in the box. Italian left-back, Criscito took the spot kick which brought Zenit one goal up.

In a space of 10 minutes Mak, Giuliano and Dzyuba each scored, handing Zenit a commanding 4-0 lead. A consolation goal for Rubin Kazan finally came from Jonathas with just 4 minutes left on the clock.

Balazs Dzsudzsak is set to make his mark at Abu Dhabi after his impressive performance at the Euro 2016 for Hungary.

He has had moments of brilliance and burst throughout his 12 year career. Arabian Gulf Cupholders Al Wahda are keen on retaining their status, and they hope he would be able to live up to the hype. He made his debut at age 20 even when he was still playing for Debrecen in his native country. He has been impressive for the country ever since. He enjoyed a decent time at PSV Eindhoven until 2011, but hasn’t quite reached those levels for Anzhi Makhachkala, Russian side Dinamo Moscow and Bursaspor.

When he left the Dutch club, he was only 24 years, but his sterling performance made him to be linked to several clubs. In 150 games with PSV, he scored 54 goals and created 50 assists from the wing. He spent a brief time at Anzhi, playing eight games before he moved to Russia in 2012 for €19 million. He had off the field issues, with the height being when he was shot at with a paintball gun by the Dynamo Moscow fans of the club as they protested the number of foreign players at the club.

throughout his three year stay at the club, he featured for more than 100 games but struggled to score. He could only net 13 times throughout his stay. In 2015, he moved to Bursaspor for just €1.6m, but continued with his poor form. He was desperate to leave the club from as early as December. He was sent off during the period, leaving him with a feature in six out of 19 games.

Dzsudzsak has the chance to redeem his image, after years of underperformance in club football. Aged 29, he has been decent for Hungary but is now set to leave his mark in UAE.

Brondby IF are hoping to get a place at the Europa League and they have Hibernian to get past in the qualifying second round.

Since the epic game of Celtic and Russian giant Dynamo Moscow far back in 2009, no Scottish outfit has lost at home first then gone on to win the second leg.

Coach of Hibernian Neil Lennon is hoping that they change that when they face Brondby IF after a first leg deficit. He says he knows that they are underdogs after their first leg loss but he feels they can still turn things around at Copenhagen.

When the coach was asked about the Europa League tie, he said: “Can we turn things around? It’s well within our means to do that, yes. It’s going to be very difficult. They’re a good side, with strength in depth – internationals coming off the bench – but we’re ready.”

The captain of the side David Gray who played in the first leg of the game even though his fiancée gave birth on the eve of the match, reaffirmed their commitment to upturn the scoreline in the away game. The player who was the first Hibs captain to lift the Scottish Cup in 114 years said they were capable of upturning the result in the second leg.

The coach admitted that he would be pained not to be able to stand at the touchline due to the ban he received in the first leg but added that he has people that will handle the job. The game will be difficult to predict due to the regular changes the Brondby manager Alexander Zorniger makes. The coach shuffles his team for each of the four games they have played which have all resulted in victories for the club. The winners of the game will face Hertha Berlin.

Dynamo Moscow are set to allow the transfer of two players from the club this summer.

French giant Olympique Marseille are already very close on completing the transfer of Slovakian international central defender Tomáš Hubočan from the club. The player was reported to have flown to the French club to finalise contractual negotiations and undergo a medical pending the move, according to reports from La Provence.

Also, L’Équipe’s Mathieu Gregoire reports that the deal involves €1.2 million which could complete within the next few days. The French side is preparing for the unveiling of the player having reached an agreement for the transfer.

English Championship club Newcastle United are also looking to sign a player from the Russian side. The club has had a lot of activity signing players and letting others go. They have completed the signings of forward Dwight Gayle, aside Matz Sels and Matt Ritchie. Coach Rafa Benitez still wants another to boost the defence. It would difficult to convince a good defender to join the second tier football club but there are experienced ones that can do the job very well for short term pending when they return to the Premier League as they hope.

One of the good options is Christopher Samba. Samba, 32, spent three years at Dynamo Moscow before the club released him. He has good leadership qualities that would prove important in the Championship. He has spent five years before with Rovers, so he is used to English football. His power, confidences aside being imposing would definitely be useful at Newcastle. Recently released Martin Demichelis from Manchester City is another option, Newcastle is considering. There’s also Brazilian Alex that has been released by AC Milan. The former PSG player would prove useful to Benitez as they plot their way back to top flight English football.

There are not too many managers who are managing a top club and then, the national team of that particular country as well.

Leonid Slutsky is doing that in Russia, but, he reckons because of not having a Football playing career, he has had to face non-acceptance from people right through.

It’s not that Slutsky did not have aspirations of playing the game. He definitely had and he loved Football like any other kid does. He was a shot stopper at school.

But, a miserable accident in his teenage saw one of his legs getting damaged to the extent that he had to remain on bed for about 12 months or so and the doctors feared standing on that leg might not be possible for him.

However, thankfully, the injury did not reveal itself as badly as feared and he recovered to stand again, but, the damage was enough to ensure that his dreams of making a career out of his playing skills were over.

However, such was his interest in Football that he wanted to do something which would keep him close to it and that made him go for a coaching certificate so that he could have it as a future career option.

Today, if he has got the jobs that he has, it has come after years and years of efforts as he has shown his credential at all the levels while climbing up the ladder in Russian Football. But, many are still not sure of his efficiency.

Talking about that, Slutsky says, “I have dealt with refusal from the days I was working in junior Football and it’s still happening I reckon, with a section of supporters willing for me to be out of the job. So, it’s a case of me trying to prove myself every day.”

The former Chelsea player, Yuri Zhirkov is set to leave Dynamo Moscow and join FC Zenit Saint Petersburg on a two-year contract.

The player who was playing with Dynamo Moscow for three seasons was set to join Zenit on a free transfer at the end of his contract, but the two clubs managed to find a transfer agreement that will allow Zhirkov to make the move before the contract expire.

The left-sided midfielder will be a wonderful addition to FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, who looks to strengthen their team to become more competitive not only in Russia but also on the European side.

Yuri Zhirkov has been quite successful with Dynamo Moscow. After having made 48 appearances with the Premier League club Chelsea, the Russian player moved back to his home country where he signed for FC Anzhi Makhachkala. During his team in England, the midfielder managed to score only one goal with England. In terms of trophies, he won the Premier League as well as the FA Cup for the London team.

Once back to Russia in 2011, he made 50 appearances with Anzhi where he managed three goals. In his last game with Anzhi, he played in the Russian Cup final where his team, unfortunately, lost to CSKA Moscow.

Following Anzhi financial problems, Yuri Zhirkov left the team and made the switch to Dynamo Moscow where he played 14 league matches for his first season. He would score three goals during his debut season. He stayed two more seasons with Dynamo Moscow where he managed another 53 more appearances for the Moscow team. He will score two more goals during this period. Both goals came in the Europa League. In total, he will make 67 appearances for Dynamo Moscow and scored five goals in all.

Axel Witsel has once again reiterated his desire to leave Zenit St Petersburg in the summer.

The former Benfica midfielder is one of the stars in the Russian Premier League. However, he has been unhappy with life at Zenit St Petersburg for quite a while. He moved to the Russian club in 2012 amidst several offers from top European clubs. He chose to enjoy the riches of Zenit St Petersburg, who recently signed Yuri Zhirkov, rather than the possibility of playing at a club where winning the Champions League is a possibility. The 27-year-old has finally admitted that he would like to play in a league where there is prominence.

Juventus and Manchester United have been previously linked with his services, but it remains to be seen if they will come in with a concrete offer given that he is almost about to enter into his 30s.Witsel has the chance to impress potential suitors by performing well for Belgium at the upcoming Euro 2016. Since his debut for the national team in 2008,Witsel has been a key figure and has made more than 60 appearances. Aware that securing a move at this time in his career will be difficult,Witsel also claimed that he is not 100% sure about his departure from the club.

“I still have a contract for one more year come June and the club know how I feel. I would like to play in a bigger league.I cannot say that I will 100 percent leave, but we have not held talks over a new deal and my intention is to leave this summer. I want to focus on finishing the season on a high, then there’s the Euros and then we will see what happens.I spoke to a number of clubs last summer, but it was not about money for Zenit. They wanted to keep me because of the Champions League,” said Witsel.