Atletico Madrid made a positive start to their Champions League campaign by beating Zenit St Petersburg 3-1 in the Spanish capital.
Both sides looked threatening early on in Madrid, with Hulk firing a shot wide of the target shortly before David Villa saw a weak effort easily saved by Yuri Lodygin.
© Getty Images
Atletico went ahead in the 39th minute when Miranda took advantage of some poor marking to head in a corner from Koke.
The hosts should have doubled their lead just a few moments later but Diego Godin managed to head over from close range following another inviting delivery from Koke.
Aleksandr Kerzhakov tested Thibaut Courtois with a good header but the Belgian goalkeeper responded well to push the ball to safety.
However, Courtois was helpless to prevent Zenit from equalising just a couple of minutes later when Hulk found the top corner of the goal with an unstoppable effort from 30 yards out.
© Getty Images
Hulk almost repeated the trick when he targeted the top corner from long range again but his free kick struck the crossbar on this occasion.
Atletico hit back to regain the lead in the 64th minute as Koke once again caused problems with a good cross and Zenit were punished for failing to clear when Arda Turan bundled the ball home from close range.
The home side completed an impressive start to the group stage in the 80th minute when substitute Leo Baptistao collected the ball on the edge of the box before curling it into the bottom corner of the goal.
Callum Mulvihill
