Heartbreak for Rangers as Zenit St Petersburg win UEFA Cup

Champions: Zenit St. Petersburg celebrate winning the UEFA Cup

21:36, Zenit 1 Rangers 0: FULL TIME

21:35, Zenit 1 Rangers 0: GOAL: A great passing move lets Konstatin Zyryanov double Zenit's lead.

21:33, Zenit 1 Rangers 0: Novo blazes his shot high over the bar from eight yards.

21:28, Zenit 1 Rangers 0: RANGERS SUB: Steven Whittaker off, Kris Boyd on.

Despair: David Weir of Glasgow Rangers reacts after the referee failed to award a penalty

21:22, Zenit 1 Rangers 0: RANGERS SUB: Hemdani off, Lee McCulloch on.

21:18, Zenit 1 Rangers 0: RANGERS SUB: Sasa Papac off, Nacho Novo on.

21:14, Zenit 1 Rangers 0:GOAL: Arshivan beats Rangers' defence with a sweetly placed through-ball and Igor Denisov slides the ball past Alexander.

Deadlock broken: Igor Denisov scores the opening goal

21:07, Zenit 0 Rangers 0: Rangers' Whittaker shoots but his effort is cleared for a corner and at the other end Arshavin's shot is headed off the line by Sasa Papac.

21:03, Zenit 0 Rangers 0: Left corner to Zenit is swung in by Ashavin but Alexander punches clear.

20:56, Zenit 0 Rangers 0: Barry Ferguson falls on the edge of Zenit's 6-yard box after after Darcheville's 15-yard shot is fumbled by Malofeev and a scramble ensues, but referee Peter Frojdfeldt waves Rangers' protests away.

20:52, Zenit 0 Rangers 0: Zenit start the second half as they ended the first - controlling the midfield and probing for gaps in the Rangers defence.

HALF-TIME, Zenit 0 Rangers 0

8:28, Zenit 0 Rangers 0: Rangers free-kick: 20 yards out, fairly central, but Kevin Thomson's effort hits the wall and is booted into touch.

8:23, Zenit 0 Rangers 0: Rangers probe down their right side and Jean-Claude Darcheville crosses for Steve Davis in the box but his header loops over Vyacheslav Malafeev's bar.

8:14, Zenit 0 Rangers 0: Fierce, 30-yard strike on goal by Zenit's Aleksandr Anyukov after coming off his right wing, but his effort is fired right into Alexander's arms. The Russian side are finding a lot of space by using their pace and direct running to stretch Rangers' midfield and defence.

8:02, Zenit 0 Rangers 0: Zenit's Turkish international Fatih Tekke has clear chance on goal having made space for himself in Rangers' area, but heads over from 10 yards.

8:00, Zenit 0 Rangers 0: Zenit are playing it around at speed, spreading the ball from wing to wing. Rangers midfield content to sit back at the moment.

Danger signs: Zenit's Andrei Arshavin has an early shot. Carlos Cuellar stretches to block

7:56, Zenit 0 Rangers 0: Kevin Thomson foul leads to a 30-yard free kick by Arshavan. His driven effort goes straight at Alexander.

7:50, Zenit 0 Rangers 0: The Russian side choose to play the ball wide to their left flank and get clear of the covering Rangers defence. Andrei Arshavin's shot goes wide of Neil Alexander's right post.

7:49, Zenit 0 Rangers 0: Zenit are playing a narrow formation in the opening minutes and not giving Rangers too much trouble.

KICK-OFF, 7:45pm

Kevin Thomson has recovered from a foot injury to take his place in the Rangers team to face Zenit St Petersburg in tonight's UEFA Cup final.

Thomson and Brahim Hemdani have been given defensive midfield roles, with Steven Davis, Steven Whittaker and captain Barry Ferguson playing behind lone striker Jean-Claude Darcheville.

Raring to go: Kevin Thomson, here playing against Barcelona, is fit to face Zenit

Fit-again midfielder Lee McCulloch and striker Nacho Novo, who struck twice in Saturday's league win over Dundee United, miss out.

Zenit will be without their top scorer, Pavel Pogrebnyak, the striker being suspended after a semi-final booking.

Zenit St Petersburg:

Malafeev, Aniukov, Krizanac, Shirokov, Sirl, Tymoschuk, Zyryanov, Denisov, Faitzulin, Tekke, Arshavin. Subs: Contofalsky, Radimov, Kim, Dominguez, Ricksen, Ionov, Gorshkov.

Rangers:

Alexander, Broadfoot, Weir, Cuellar, Papac, Hemdani, Whittaker, Ferguson, Thomson, Davis, Darcheville. Subs: Graeme Smith, Boyd, Novo, Adam, Dailly, McCulloch, Faye.

Referee: Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden)

Out in force: Rangers fans gather in Manchester

Strong support: Rangers fans are in good spirits before the clash

Rays of hope: Rangers fans enjoy the Manchester sun