Soccer-Zenit beat nine-man Spartak to spoil Karpin debut

(Makes clear Spartak finished with nine men in first para)

MOSCOW, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Champions Zenit St Petersburg beat Spartak 4-2 away in a heated Russian Premier League encounter on Friday to spoil the debut of Valery Karpin as caretaker coach of the Moscow club who finished with nine men.

Belgian international Axel Witsel scored twice after Brazil striker Hulk had opened the scoring and Russia midfielder Roman Shirokov added another goal late on for the St Petersburg side.

Russia international Artem Dzyuba and Nigerian striker Emmanuel Emenike scored for Spartak, who had defenders Nicolas Pareja and Juan Insaurralde sent off for rough play.

The result snapped Zenit's three-game winless streak, easing some of the pressure on Luciano Spalletti whose side moved up to second place, three points behind leaders CSKA Moscow, who visit Guus Hiddink's Anzhi Makhachkala on Sunday.

"This team needs a lot of work, especially in defence," said former Russia international Karpin, who replaced ex-Valencia boss Unai Emery after he was sacked on Sunday following a 5-1 home thrashing by their bitter city rivals Dynamo.

Spartak remained in seventh place, 11 points off the pace.

Spartak general director Karpin is in his second spell as the club's coach following a three-year stint before he resigned at the end of last season to be replaced by Emery despite having guided Spartak to second place and a Champions League spot.

VERBAL TUSSLE

Karpin and Spalletti had a war of words before the match.

The Spartak manager accused Zenit, who splashed out more than 100 million euros ($130 million) on Hulk and Witsel before the transfer deadline, of overspending while Spalletti hit back by telling Karpin to mind his own business.

"He talks too much," the Italian said on the eve of the game. "Tomorrow I'll show him what Hulk is capable of doing."

Both clubs endured a period of turmoil ahead of Friday's game, played amid tight security at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium.

Zenit were handed a 3-0 defeat to Dynamo after their Nov. 17 match was abandoned when the Moscow goalkeeper Anton Shunin was injured by firecrackers thrown by fans. He suffered burns to the corneas of both eyes and some loss of hearing.

Zenit said they would take their case to the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after the Russian FA rejected their appeal on Thursday.

Zenit and Spartak have also been eliminated from Europe's elite Champions League competition with a game to spare.

Spartak, who visit Celtic in their final Group G match on Wednesday, will end the campaign bottom of the section.

Big spenders Zenit, owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom, can guarantee a third-place finish in Group C and qualify for the Europa League if they win at AC Milan on Tuesday. (Reporting by Gennady Fyodorov; editing by Ken Ferris)