Two second-half goals from Guilio Donati and Kyriakos Papadopoulos helped Bayer Leverkusen move top of Group C in the Champions League with a 2-0 win over a poor Zenit St Petersburg side at the BayArena.

Donati struck first, slamming the ball past the suspect Yuri Lodygin on 58 minutes, before second-half substitute Papadopoulos netted four minutes later with his first touch of the game.

The win propels the Germans above Zenit and AS Monaco to the summit of Group C.

Below, Sports Mole identifies the heroes and the villains in Leverkusen tonight.

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Goal

Bernd Leno: Might have been a little bored by virtue of an insipid Zenit attack throughout the night. Had very little to do. (6/10)

Defence

Guilio Donati: Bagged the crucial opening goal that knocked Zenit for six and produced a sound defensive performance to go with it. (7/10)

Omer Toprak: Will not have many easier nights after marking the isolated and ineffective Salmon Rondon. (6/10)

Emir Spahic: Subbed on the hour mark with a suspected knee injury and, like centre-half partner Toprak, will seldom have an easier game. (6/10)

Wendell: Bittersweet from the left-back, whose needless dismissal spoiled what was an exceptional attacking and defensive display. (6/10)

Midfield

Stefan Reinartz: Won the midfield battle against Viktor Fayzulin and can take some credit for Zenit's lack of attacking threat. (6/10)

Lars Bender: Brilliant performance to thwart so many Zenit attacks throughout the evening. He is key to his side's Champions League journey. (8/10)

Karim Bellarabi: Excellent in the first half but faded slightly after the interval. Still, his interception is what led to the game-changing first goal. (7/10)

Hakan Calhanoglu: Atoned for missing a gilt-edged first-half header by setting up both of Bayer Leverkusen's goals. Sacrificed once his side went down to 10 men. (7/10)

Attack

Son Hueng-Min: Excellent, lively performance from the South Korean who added to his burgeoning reputation tonight. He will have a big role to play in anything they achieve this season. (7/10)

Stefan Kiessling: His side's worst player and seldom saw any of the ball. He looked the odd one out in some slick attacking moves from Son and Calhanoglu. (4/10)

Substitutes

Kyriakos Papadopoulos: Scored with his very first touch of the ball to guide a header past Lodyin. Had very little to do defensively. (7/10)

Tin Jedvaj: Replaced Calhanoglu after Wendell's red card and slotted into left-back well, but Hulk had moved centrally by the time he arrived. (5/10)

Julian Brandt: Tried to play a couple of through balls in his brief five-minute cameo but should have perhaps focused on keeping the ball. (4/10)

Goal

Yuri Lodyin: Perhaps a bit suspect for the first goal and might be a bit disappointed not to have saved Donati's shot. (4/10)

Defence

Aleksandr Anyukov: Got forward well at times but was tormented defensively by the lively Wendell, who caused all sorts of problems. (5/10)

Ezequiel Garay: Almost scored an own goal after a major breakdown in communication with his goalkeeper in an incident that summed up Zenit's night. (5/10)

Nicolas Lombaerts: Found himself outmuscled by Papadopoulos for the second goal and might be kicking himself that he did not do better. (4/10)

Domenico Criscito: Booked for a silly challenge late on and was nowhere to be seen when right-back Donati popped up unmarked to slam home the first goal. (4/10)

Midfield

Axel Witsel: Never influenced the game as someone with his size and stature would have liked. Never given a sniff by Bender and Reinartz. (5/10)

Javi Garcia: A silly booking as early as the 15-minute mark meant that he could not be his usual, imposing self for the remainder of the game. (4/10)

Viktor Fayzulin: Booked in the seventh minute in what was an entirely forgettable performance. Never really got going in midfield and subbed on 62 minutes. (4/10)

Danny: Wasted chance after chance with astonishingly poor deliveries from set pieces. We expect far better from the Zenit skipper, and they'll need him on point for the reverse fixture in two weeks. (4/10)

Attack

Hulk: Drew plenty of fouls throughout the night but was nowhere as influential as he might have been. Found himself in the pocket of Wendell for much of the evening. (5/10)

Solomon Rondon: His inclusion continues to baffle as the striker looked a mere passenger here once again, having also fired blanks against Benfica and Monaco. (4/10)

Substitutes

Oleg Shatov: Tried to make things happen and looked a better option than Fayzulin but his arrival did not make that much of an impact. However, he did have one of Zenit's three shots. (5/10)

Aleksandr Kerzhakov: Perhaps should have started ahead of Salomon Rondon after a promising eight-minute cameo up front. (5/10)

Written by
Shane Callaghan