Zenit St Petersburg's captain, Anatoliy Tymoschuk, holds the UEFA Cup trophy after his side defeated Rangers in the UEFA Cup final at the City of Manchester stadium yesterday. Zenit won 2-0. - AP

MANCHESTER, England

(AP):

RUSSIA IS becoming a growing force in European club soccer.

Zenit St. Petersburg won their first European trophy - and Russia's second - by beating Rangers 2-0 yesterday in the UEFA Cup final.

Three years ago, CSKA Moscow won the UEFA Cup title to become the first Russian team to earn a European honor.

Cut through defence

Yesterday, Igor Denisov scored the first goal in the 72nd minute after playing a one-two with Andrei Arshavin and cutting through the Rangers defence before beating goalkeeper Neil Alexander.

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

First title

Zenit coach Dick Advocaat, who led Rangers from 1998-2002, won his first European title with the victory. He leapt in the air at the final whistle.

The Zenit players then put on gold shirts and gave their opponents a guard of honour, applauding as the Scottish team filed past to collect their runners-up medals from UEFA president Michel Platini.