Zenit St Petersburg win their first UEFA Cup

Konstantin Zyryanov added the second in injury time, tapping the ball over the line off a pass from Fatih Tekke.

Denisov had escaped being penalised for a handball early in the second half.

Zenit coach Dick Advocaat, who led Rangers from 1998-2002, won his first European title with the victory on Wednesday. He leapt in the air at the final whistle. The Zenit players then put on gold shirts and gave their opponents a guard of honor, applauding as the Scottish team filed past to collect their runner-up medals.

The well-travelled Advocaat has transformed Zenit since joining in 2006 — last season the Dutchman led Zenit to it’s first Russian league title, meaning the club will play in the Champions League next season.

Zenit dominated the first half, having the greater possession and nearly all the chances at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Alexander stopped attacks from Zenit captain Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Radek Sirl, Zyryanov and Alexander Anyukov, while Arshavin sent a shot into the side netting and Viktor Fayzulin headed over the bar.

Rangers finally mustered its best first-half chance in the 37th when Steven Whittaker headed over the bar.

Rangers’ defender Kirk Broadfoot also escaped punishment for an alleged handball incident late in the first half.

Rangers played with more energy in the second period, enjoying its best chances of the match in the 54th when Jean-Claude Darcheville had a shot pushed away by goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev and Barry Ferguson hit the post with rebound.

That sparked Rangers into action and Whittaker had a shot deflected wide in the 64th.

In the subsequent counter-attack, Arshavin had a shot headed off the line by Sasa Papac after he had gotten around Alexander, who had run out of the box in an attempt to clear.

Zyryanov hit the post in the 75th before Rangers sent on striker Nacho Novo for Papac.

With 10 minutes remaining, Rangers threw on attacking midfielder Lee McCulloch — then a third striker in Kris Boyd in the 87th, but the Scottish team couldn’t force the match into extra time.

Zenit is the second Russian club to win in Europe. CSKA Moscow won the 2005 UEFA Cup title.

Rangers, which has already won one domestic trophy and is in contention for two more, won the defunct Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972, beating Dynamo Moscow.

The Scottish fans filled two-thirds of the stadium and more than 100,000 more were in downtown Manchester watching on giant screens.

Scottish police said 25,000 fans had filled Rangers’ stadium in Glasgow to watch a live telecast.

While the Russian season is only a couple of months in — and Zenit was allowed to postpone several league games to prepare for the UEFA Cup final — Rangers is at the end of it’s season in Scotland.

Rangers has already won the Scottish League Cup title, is in the May 24 final of the Scottish Cup and in contention for the league title as well. It has three league games left after Wednesday.