Soccer News

Zenit St Petersburg win UEFA Cup

May 15, 2008, 0:05 GMT

Manchester, Britain - Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg finally ground down a resilient Glasgow Rangers side to win the UEFA Cup final Wednesday at the City of Manchester Stadium. Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyrianov stunned the massive travelling Scottish support with two clinically taken second-half goals to secure the club's first European trophy with a 2-0 win. The City of Manchester Stadium was overwhelmingly in the hands of Rangers fans, with at least 30,000 of the 47,000-capacity crowd supporting the Scottish club, which was playing in its first European final for 36 years. Several thousand more congregated outside the stadium without tickets, while the Manchester city centre was filled with raucous Gers supporters who had made the trip to Manchester, believed to be somewhere in the region of 100,000. Zenit, who went into the game as favourites, were first to settle and could have been in front as early as the fourth minute but Andrei Arshavin fired his shot into the side-netting. The Russians continued to dominate possession without really threatening the Rangers goal although Aleksandr Anyukov did force goalkeeper Neil Alexander into action with a fierce shot from the edge of the area shortly before the half-hour mark. With Rangers starved of possession, chances were at a premium at the other end with Steven Whittaker's header over the bar virtually the only chance of note for Walter Smith's side in the opening period. Before the half came to a close, Rangers fans also suffered the fright of seeing Kirk Broadfeet seemingly handle the ball in the area but referee Peter Frojdfeldt pointed for a corner rather than to the penalty spot. The second half started at an increased tempo with the first clearcut chance falling to Rangers in the 53rd minute when Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev blocked a shot from Jean-Claude Darcheville. A frantic scramble ensued with Rangers claiming Denisov handled but once again Frojdfeldt waved the claims away. Alexander suffered a rush of blood in the 63rd minute when the 30- year-old failed to meet a ball outside his area but Sasa Papac was on hand to head Arshavin's subsequent effort off the line and spare the goalkeeper's blushes. But Zenit finally got the goal all their possession deserved on 72 minutes when Denisov strode through the centre of the Rangers defence before sliding the ball past Alexander. Zyrianov could have doubled Zenit's lead minutes later but his shot came back off a post. The closest Rangers came to an equalizer came in added time when substitute Nacho Novo blasted over but there was still time for Zyrianov to make it 2-0, tapping the ball home after a slick counter- attacking move. Around a hundred Zenit fans poured on to the pitch at the final whistle to celebrate the win but the match stewards quickly restored order to allow captain Anatoliy Tymoschuk lift the trophy in the presence of UEFA president Michel Platini.

View blog reactions

Latest Headlines in Soccer

Talkback

There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)

Video News

Latest from M&C Blogs

Gordon Brown calls on G8 leaders to secure trade deal - Global Eye on July 4, 2008 3:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

McCain, Obama clash over gay marriage - Global Eye on July 2, 2008 5:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

President Mugabe attends African Union summit - Global Eye on July 1, 2008 2:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Algae bloom threatening Olympic sailing events - The World in Pictures on July 4, 2008 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Recreation of the Argo - The World in Pictures on July 2, 2008 7:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The Nigh' by Spanish artist Antonio Lope - The World in Pictures on July 2, 2008 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Soccer

Soccer News

Zenit St Petersburg win UEFA Cup

Latest Headlines in Soccer

Talkback

Most Popular Articles on M&C Today

Video News

Latest from M&C Blogs

Similar articles

In Monsters and Critics

Corporate

The Fine Print