First-half blitz puts Glasgow on top
DTH van der Merwe got the ball rolling as Glasgow Warriors blew Zebre away with a four-try first-half to climb back to the top of the Pro12 table - finishing 26-5 winners.
Glasgow Warriors were brought back down to earth last time out as Munster beat them to end their three-game Pro12 winning streak and sit pretty in first pace.
And Glasgow were clearly keen to banish that from their memory as Van der Merwe scored twice in the first half and was joined on the scoresheet but a returning Chris Fusaro and a first Warriors score for Kevin Bryce as the hosts led 26-0 at half-time.
Dion Berryman grabbed a try just before the hour mark but this was as good as it got for Zebre as the Warriors got back to winning ways in comfortable fashion.
The game was just four minutes old when Van der Merwe went over for the first time, running in under the posts after being put in by Rossouw de Klerk, Peter Horne adding the extras.
Glasgow were enjoying plenty of possession but were failing to break Zebre down after this, that was until Alberto Chillon was shown a yellow card after quarter of an hour.
And the hosts made the most of their man advantage as great work from the forwards allowed Fusaro to go over in his first game for three months, Horne again with the conversion.
Horne was then replaced by Richie Vernon with Connor Braid coming on at flyhalf, but it did little to slow Glasgow down as on 27 minutes Bryce was celebrating his first try for the club following a quick Niko Matawalu penalty.
Braid was successful with the conversion and then Matawalu thought he had a try of his own after a great break by Lee Jones but the TMO adjudged the scrum-half to have gone out of touch.
Zebre soon found themselves down to 13 men as Matteo Pratichetti and Mauro Bergamasco were sin binned, and the hosts made them pay as Van Der Merwe grabbed his second of the night, Braid missing the conversion.
Zebre came out strongly after the restart and five minutes into the second half Edoardo Padovani was wide with a penalty.
But the visitors kept pressing and just before the hour mark go the try their play deserved as Berryman was on the end of a flowing move.
Glenn Bryce was then show a yellow card two minutes after coming off the replacements bench but the visitors were unable to make the extra man count.
And despite enjoying plenty of possession in the final quarter - as well as the Warriors seeing Will Bordill sent to the sin bin for the final few minutes - Zebre failed to trouble the scoreboard again as Glasgow returned to the top of the table.
The scorers:
For Glasgow:
Tries: Van der Merwe 2, Fusaro, K Bryce
Cons: Horne 2, Braid
For Zebre:
Try: Berryman
Yellow cards: Alberto Chillon (Zebre, 15), Matteo Pratichetti (Zebre, 31), Mauro Bergamasco (Zebre, 35), Glenn Bryce (Glasgow Warriors, 63), Will Bordill (Glasgow Warriors, 73)
Teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Peter Murchie, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Connor Braid, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Niko Matawalu, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Chris Fusaro, 6 Adam Ashe, 5 Al Kellock (captain), 4 Rob Harley, 3 Rossouw de Klerk, 2 Kevin Bryce, 1 Ryan Grant .
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 James Eddie, 20 Will Bordill, 21 Ali Price, 22 Richie Vernon, 23 Glenn Bryce.
Zebre: 15 Giulio Toniolatti, 14 Dion Berryman, 13 Mirco Bergamasco, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 David Odiete, 10 Edoardo Padovani, 9 Alberto Chillon, 8 Valerio Bernabò, 7 Mauro Bergamasco (captain), 6 Ruben Riccioli, 5 Andrei Mahu, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Lorenzo Romano, 2 Oliviero Fabiani, 1 Andrea De Marchi.
Replacements: 16 Luciano Leibson, 17 Andrea Lovotti, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Filippo Gerosa, 20 Renato Giammarioli, 21 Brendon Leonard, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Gonzalo Garcia.
Referee: Ian Davies
Assistant referees: Sam Grove-White, Mike Adamson
TMO: Iain Ramage