Goals in the second half by Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyrianov lifted Russian side Zenit St. Petersburg to a 2-0 victory over Rangers in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup final at the City of Manchester Stadium.
The match started at a slow pace with Rangers doing well to defend the attack-minded Russians, and Zenit got their first chance on 29 minutes with Aleksandr Anyukov’s shot being saved by Neil Alexander and later Fatih Tekke squandered a chance to perhaps put the Russians in front.
Jean-Claude Darcheville had Rangers’ first great chance on 54 minutes in a scramble inside the Zenit penalty area, but the French striker came up empty, leaving the match scoreless.
Zenit’s attacks then finally paid off in the 72nd minute when Andrei Arshavin split the Rangers defense with a great throughball, tapped home nicely by Denisov.
Rangers fought hard trying by an equalizer, but man of the match Arshavin helped put it away in stoppage time, driving into the area and passing to the near post for Zyrianov to tap in, clinching Zenit’s first European trophy.
