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Dick Advocaat, Rangers' former boss, masterminded a superb UEFA Cup victory with a 2-0 victory over his old club at the City of Manchester Stadium on Wednesday night. Zenit are now the second Russian side in four years to lift the trophy.
It was an emotional time for Rangers' fans, who filled two thirds of the stadium with blue. Rangers have not won a European title since winning the Cup Winnersâ Cup in 1972, when they defeated Dynamo Moscow. However, they were not so lucky tonight.
With Rangers doing little to trouble Vyacheslav Malafeev in the Zenit goal, the Russians were doing all the pressing and Zyrianov screwed wide of the near post after being set up for the shot by Roman Shirokov.
Kirk Broadfoot then appeared to handle in the box from an Arshavin cross seconds before the half-time whistle but no penalty was forthcoming from Swedish referee Peter Frojdfeldt and the first half ended goalless.
The breakthrough came when Igor Denisov scored in the 72nd minute after an exchange with Andrei Arshavin, cutting through the defense and beating goalkeeper Neil Alexander. Konstantin Zyryanov got the second goal in injury time, tapping the ball over the line off a pass from Fatih Tekke.
Rangers had a memorable campaign, but it was just unfortunate for them it wasn't quite enough.
Written by majicka
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