UEFA Cup Final 2008: Zenit St Petersburg Beat Rangers to Win UEFA Cup

May 14, 2008 by CLDsport

UEFA Cup Logo Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg have beaten Glasgow Rangers 2-0 to win the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history.

Zenit started the match strongly and held possession well. Rangers struggled to get the ball out of their own half at times, and the first half was relatively scrappy. Zenit passed the ball better than Rangers, but failed to create many clear openings thanks to some resolute and determined defending from Rangers.

The first chance of the match came after just 4 minutes but Arshavin took the ball too wide and sliced his shot into the side netting. On reflection he must have regretted not taking the shot on earlier.

Rangers responded within 2 minutes as the ball was crossed low into the box. Captain Barry Ferguson was inches away from making contact with the ball for an easy chance, but the Zenit defender stepped in at the last minute with an excellent last-ditch tackle to put the ball out for a corner.

After this promising start, the game became bogged down with Zenit holding possession, passing it around midfield well, but failing to create anything of note.

In the 37th minute Davis took the ball brilliantly out on the right wing, and sent in a fantastic cross. Unfortunately for Rangers the ball was slightly too high for Whittaker and he failed to get over the ball - and looped his header over the bar.

With half-time approaching fast, Rangers won a free-kick in a promising position just outside the box after Darchville was brought down ruthlessly. Thomson wasted the chance however, hitting the ball directly into the Zenit wall. With Ranger’s getting minimal efforts on goal, they would need to improve their set pieces drastically if they were to get anything out of this game.

At the half-time break, it would be fair to say that Dick Advocat would be the happiest. Although Rangers had defended faultlessly, Zenit looked the most likely to score. Rangers would have to get hold of the ball more - and keep it - if they were to win the UEFA Cup.

Walter Smith’s half-time team talk seemed to have made a difference just after the break, as Rangers looked much more accomplished and were getting more of the ball.

In the 52nd minute, Rangers should have opened the scoring. Zenit keeper, Malafeev, made a great save from Darchville which led to a goal mouth scramble. As Rangers reclaimed possession, the ball was knocked against a Zenit defender’s arm, and there was a huge shout for handball. Replays showed that the arm did move slightly towards the ball, but would have been a harsh penalty. Although they’ve been given, the defender surely did not have enough time to move his hand out of the way?

Rangers improved performance had got the crowd going again, and the City of Manchester Stadium rocked with atmosphere.

Just after the hour mark, Rangers wasted another golden opportunity as Whittaker’s shot was deflected wide of the left-hand post. The shot was poor, and should have been put away.

Immediately following the resulting corner, Zenit cleared their lines and created a great chance. As Arshavin raced towards goal, the otherwise impressive Neil Alexander made an awful decision in coming out of his box to meet him. Arshavin easily beat the Rangers’ keeper, but his chipped shot was cleared off the line by a well-placed Papac.

Rangers were finally broken in the 72nd minute after a neat one-two between Arshavin and Denisov carved their defence in half. Denisov was released through the centre and slid the ball calmly past Alexander.

Rangers had it all to do, and had to reorganise themselves as a more attacking unit.

Whilst Smith and McCoist were still deliberating in the dug-out, Zenit almost clinched it, but Zyrianov’s shot scraped the outside of the post.

Rangers swiftly changed to a more attacking 4-3-3 formation, and introduced Novo. He was guilty of missing a good chance shortly after, as he blazed over from a crowded box.

As Rangers tried to push for an equaliser, Zenit finished it in the 93rd minute, when Tekke cut back a low pass into the penalty area from the edge of the box for Zyryanov to fire home into an empty net.

This was the last action of the match, as the final whistle was blown immediately after the restart. Zenit were worthy winners, and Rangers can be proud of their achievements in appearing in the final.

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