Wed May 14 16:51:03 2008

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Zenit doubles up on Rangers to seal first European title

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Manchester, England (Sports Network) - Zenit St. Petersburg clinched its first ever European title on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over Rangers in the UEFA Cup final at City of Manchester Stadium.

Zenit becomes only the second Russian team to lift the UEFA Cup, joining CSKA Moscow in 2004-05, while Rangers was bidding to win its first European title since 1972.

Igor Denisov scored the opener in the 72nd minute and Konstatin Zurianov added an insurance tally right before the final whistle for the defending Russian champions.

Zenit nearly got off to a dream start as they created a great scoring chance inside the first four minutes of the game.

Rangers lost possession in midfield and a quick Zenit counter attack allowed Andrei Arshavin to get into the box on the left and drive a left-footed shot off the outside of the net.

It was a great start for the Russians, but the game soon settled into a slower pace, as expected, with Zenit dominating possession but failing to really threaten the Rangers net.

The Scottish side played a very defensive formation that allowed Zenit to spend long periods of time in the attacking half, but there was little room to operate once they got near the penalty area.

Aleksandr Aniukov got forward on the right wing midway through the half and ripped a hard shot on target from 25 yards but it was a comfortable save for Rangers goalkeeper Neil Alexander.

Zenit created a number of corner kicks in the first half but nothing came from them, while Rangers mounted little offense except for a rare counter attack.

Rangers defender Kirk Broadfoot was very fortunate not to concede a penalty kick in first-half stoppage time when Arshavin's cross struck his arm inside the box, but the referee's whistle remained silent.

The second half started well for Rangers as the team created its first good scoring chance in the 54th minute.

Steven Davis slipped a pass into the box on the right for Jean Claude Darcheville, who struck the ball first time towards the far post. Zenit keeper Viacheslav Malafeev got down and stopped the shot with his legs, and a scramble in front of goal ensued before Zenit eventually cleared the ball.

A long ball from the back 10 minutes later was played over the top by Zenit, and Alexander came way off his line to clear it. The keeper was 35 yards from his goal, but Arshavin beat him to the ball, leaving a pair of Rangers defenders to scramble back and cover the net.

Arshavin got to the top left corner of the box with Alexander chasing him when he tried to chip the ball over the defenders and inside the far post. Sasa Papac was in a good position, however, and he cleared the ball off the line.

Zenit kept pressing the action and they finally broke through in the 72nd minute with a well-worked build up in midfield.

Denisov had the ball nodded down to his feet before laying off a pass for Arshavin, who threaded a perfect return pass to Denisov between two defenders. The midfielder then kept his nerve and slipped the ball past Alexander to put his team ahead.

Arshavin almost created another goal four minutes later as Zenit kept their foot on the gas. The Russian international pulled the ball back from the end line for Zurianov, but his shot struck the outside of the post from eight yards.

Nacho Novo was brought on as a substitute to help inject life in the Rangers attack, but he squandered the team's last chance by smacking a shot well over the net from 10 yards in stoppage time.

Zurianov then put the game away with a close-range tap in after Fatih Tekke got to the end line on the left and drove the ball through the face of goal.

The final whistle came right after that, and Zenit was left to celebrate in a stadium full of blue-clad Rangers fans.