Igor blimey, we lost! Punchless Rangers are run ragged by Russians as Denisov ruins big day

In front of 30,000 of their own supporters in the City of Manchester Stadium, they were unrecognisable from the energetic, athletic side that at one stage looked as though they may win four trophies this season.

Rangers only lost by two goals but it could have been more and they will rue their failure to deliver for a long time to come. No one more so than substitute Nacho Novo.

It would be unfair to blame this defeat on one player. This was collective failure. But nevertheless, Novo had the opportunity to hand his club a lifeline deep in stoppage time by cancelling out Igor Denisov's crucial opening goal.

And the manner in which Novo wasted it summed up Rangers' effort.

Rangers managed to gain some territory — rare on the night — and redemption beckoned as Barry Ferguson's long throw was allowed to pass in front of goal and bounce invitingly at the far post.

But Novo's composure deserted him and his clumsy left-foot shot flew high over the crossbar from no more than eight yards. With that, Rangers' adventure was over.

Their supporters inside the stadium had been magnificent. And they stayed to applaud their own team and their conquerors.

One wonders if the losing team in next week's Champions League Final will be afforded the same courtesy. It is doubtful. Smith, though, knew that his team had come up short.

The Rangers manager said: "Obviously it'll be difficult to judge how much the disappointment takes out of them.

"But we have an opportunity, with four games to go, to win two (more) trophies. We hope they can overcome the disappointment of tonight's game and not let it affect them too badly."

For Zenit — and coach Dick Advocaat — this was an enormous night. The club's rise from obscurity in Russia has come about largely due to the millions ploughed in by the country's state gas and oil company Gazprom.

Their refusal to hire black players is disgraceful. However, this will go down as a landmark day for a club that can now claim to have toppled Russian football's Moscow powerbase and made an impression on Europe, too.

Certainly, Zenit were the better team last night and in the creative and intelligent No 10 Andrei Arshavin, 26, they had the best player on show by some distance.

The highest paid player in Russian football played his part in both goals. Having missed an opportunity of his own in only the fifth minute — shooting into the side netting after Konstantin Zyrianov played him in — Arshavin more than made amends.

Zenit played the majority of the presentable football in a poor match but had not managed to put Rangers away as the contest entered the final quarter.

Advocaat's team should have had a penalty for a handball by Kirk Broadfoot just before half-time but, that apart, had only managed to trouble Rangers goalkeeper Neil Alexander from long range before things came to life.

First Alexander gave Arshavin the chance to score when he dashed foolishly from goal. The retreating Sasa Papac headed the shot from the line on that occasion but the reprieve was temporary as Rangers lost possession from their own throw-in in the 72nd minute.

Denisov picked up the ball and drove hard from deep. Spotting Arshavin on the edge of the penalty area, he played a super one-two with his colleague and, as Alexander was slow to advance, Denisov slid the ball in with his left foot.

It was a goal that was long overdue and soon after Zenit almost wrapped things up, only for Zyrianov to strike the post when it seemed easier to score. His moment was to come, however.

As Rangers rued Novo's miss, Zenit broke and Arshavin contributed two superb passes to a slick counter-attack that ended with Zyrianov moving off David Weir's shoulder to slide in a low cross from two yards.

After a courageous European campaign, Rangers were spent. It was hard to fault the effort of Smith's players but their application had been lacking on the night.

Lone striker Jean - Claude Darcheville was starved up front and was given only one chance, which Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev saved.

They also may have had a penalty in the second half but they did not really deserve much from the game. Smith's players must now focus on domestic matters. It is to be hoped they can recover. Nights like this can wreck entire seasons.