Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg won their first European silverware when second-half goals from Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyrianov secured a 2-0 victory over Rangers in the UEFA Cup final on Wednesday.

Denisov slotted home after 72 minutes and fellow midfielder Zyrianov sealed victory with a close range effort in stoppage time at the City of Manchester stadium to secure the trophy for Zenit in their first European final.

It was the second UEFA Cup success by a Russian side in four seasons following CSKA Moscow’s triumph in 2005.

“Winning a prize like this does not come often in your life,” Zenit coach Dick Advocaat said. “We are very proud that Zenit won tonight and after the way we played in this tournament, we really deserved it.”

Rangers’s loss ended their quest for a quadruple with the Scottish League Cup winners still contesting the league title and also lining up in the Scottish FA Cup final later this month.

Attack focus

Zenit failed to reproduce their impressive demolition of competition favourites Bayern Munich in the semi-finals but their attacking qualities were too much for the Rangers side.

Zenit gave an early demonstration of their counter-attacking prowess when captain Anatoly Tymoschuk robbed a hesitant Brahim Hemdani in midfield and a swift break ended with Andrei Arshavin shooting narrowly wide.

The Russian side enjoyed plenty of possession with Tymoschuk at the heart of some intricate passing moves. Rangers were content to soak up the pressure, showing little attacking intent of their own as Zenit probed away with Arshavin a menacing presence on the left flank.

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