MOSCOW (AP) Hulk scored twice as Zenit St Petersburg underlined its Russian Premier League title credentials with an 8-1 thrashing of Torpedo Moscow on Saturday.
The emphatic win sends Zenit provisionally top of the table after two games of the new season, level on points with defending champion CSKA Moscow, which beat Mordovia Saransk 1-0 earlier Saturday.
As well as the double for Brazil striker Hulk, Zenit coach Andre Villas-Boas saw his other strikers Jose Rondon and Alexander Kerzhakov score two goals each.
Also on target for the hosts were full back Igor Smolnikov and midfielder Oleg Shatov, before Dmitry Aidov managed a late consolation for newly promoted Torpedo.
The match was played behind closed doors as part of Zenit's punishment for an incident last season when fans invaded the pitch and one of them attacked a Dynamo Moscow player.