Zenit St Petersburg heaped more misery on troubled AEK Athens to make it two wins from two in Europa League Group G.

Early goals from Tomas Hubocan and Bruno Alves put the hosts in control and a reply from Nikos Liberopoulos proved only a brief tonic as Danko Lazovic converted a penalty before half-time. That came after Cristian Nasuti had seen red for a foul, and Lazovic grabbed his side's fourth in the second half before Pantelis Kafes reduced the deficit with a late penalty.

AEK went into the match without a manager after Dusan Bajevic resigned at the weekend. The Athens giants' defeat by Olympiakos Volos saw supporters hurl chairs and debris at Bajevic as the club slumped to 13th in the Super League.

And things got worse for the Greeks barely a minute into tonight's clash when Hubocan let fly from 25 yards and gave Zenit the lead. With only 13 minutes gone they had doubled their advantage as Lazovic lofted in a corner for the hosts that was met with a brilliant finish from Bruno Alves.

Zenit continued to threaten, with Vladimir Bystrov and Alexander Bukharov twice going close, while Rafik Djebbour's effort from inside the area that cleared the bar was the best AEK could muster in the opening 35 minutes. Then, in the 37th minute, the visitors pulled one back out of nothing as Liberopoulos beat Viacheslav Malafeev from 20 yards out.

AEK's chances of getting something from the game were almost certainly ended six minutes later, though, when a bad foul on Bukharov by Nasuti resulted in a penalty and a red card for the defender. Lazovic took responsibility for the spot-kick and duly converted with a precise shot into the bottom corner. The same player then put the game well and truly out of sight in the 57th minute when he turned in Aleksandar Lukovic's cross from close range.

AEK at least had the final word with their second goal in the 83rd minute, scored by Kafes from the penalty spot after Malafeev brought down Papa Bouba Diop, but it was too little, too late.