Russian club reach new Zenit, lift UEFA Cup

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.”

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.

Rangers tried to push forward after the break but in doing so left themselves exposed to Zenit’s swift counter-attacks.

Zenit finally found a way to beat Alexander when Denisov and playmaker Arshavin split the Rangers defence through the middle with the former slotting the ball home from eight metres. Konstantin Zyrianov hit the post from close range a few minutes later before the midfielder converted Tekke’s cross in added time after a fine passing move to spark a Russian party.