Zenit St. Petersburg have beaten Glasgow Rangers 2-0 in the UEFA Cup Final at The City of Manchester Stadium, England on Wednesday, with second-half goals from Igor Denisov and Konstantin Zyrianov sealing Zenit St Petersburg's first ever European competition title.

The Russians went into the match hoping to claim their first European trophy and were facing a Glasgow Rangers side eager to win their first European trophy since beating FC Dinamo Moscow 3-2 in Barcelona to win the 1971/72 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

Zenit started the first-half the team in complete command, with Fatih Tekke, Radek Shirl and, more especially, Konstantin Zyrianov all forcing Neil Alexander into saves.

Rangers were restricted to one shot off-target from Steven Whittaker eight minutes before the break and a free-kick that failed to get through the Zenit wall as Rangers had a late flourish in the first-half.

The game went into half-time 0-0, but with the Russian side in control.

Rangers came out for the second-half with far more intent and almost took the lead in the 52nd minute. Jean Claude Darchville’s shot from the corner of the six-yard box was well saved by Malafeev, who spilt it only for Barry Ferguson’s shot hit Tymoschuk, then Fergusons second attempt hit the post.

A second chance for Rangers came in the 73rd minute but Steven Whittaker’s goal-bound shot was deflected away and immediately Zenit hit Rangers on the break, with Arshavin beating the onrushing Alexander, but his shot being cleared off the line by Sasa Papac.

Igor Denisov scored the opening goal in the 72nd minute after a wonderful piece of team play. After a nice run of passes, Andrei Arshavin made a run towards the penalty area, playing a superb pass through the Rangers defence to Denisov, who tucked the ball away past Neil Alexander to make it 1-0.

Zenit almost doubled the score minutes later but Konstantin Zyrianov’s shot deflected off the post.

The win was sealed in injury-time after another wonderful piece of interplay from the Zenit players and Konstantin Zyrianov tucking the ball home from close range to seal the win.

The game finished 2-0 to Zenit, who lift their first ever European trophy.

Zenit St. Petersburg Team: Vyacheslav Malafeev, Ivica Krizanac, Fatih Tekke, Andrei Arshavin, Radek Shirl, Roman Shirokov, Konstantin Zyrianov, Viktor Fayzulin (Kim Dong Jin, 90), Aleksandr Anyukov, Igor Denisov, Anatoliy Tymoschuk.

Zenit St. Petersburg Substitutes Not Used: Kamil Conofalsky, Vladislav Radimov, Alejandro Dominguez, Fernando Ricksen, Aleksei Ionov, Olexandr Gorshkov.

Glasgow Rangers Team: Neil Alexander, David Weir, Steven Whittaker (Kris Boyd, 86), Kevin Thomson, Kirk Broadfoot, Sasa Papac (Nacho Novo, 77), Carlos Jimenez Cuellar, Brahim Hemdani (Lee McCulloch, 86), Steven Davis, Barry Ferguson, Jean Claude Darcheville.

Glasgow Rangers Substitutes Not Used: Christian Dailly, Charles Adam, Graeme Smith, Amdy Faye.

Referee: Peter Frojdfeldt (SWEDEN).