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ZENIT PUTS BAYERN TO ROUT
Zenit St. Petersburg earned a UEFA Cup final place at FC Bayern Munchen's
expense.
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Photo: english.sport-express.ru
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The Russian title-holders Zenit reached their first European
final with a historical 4-0 victory over Bayern at overcrouded Petrovsky
stadium.
Zenit delivered painful 4-0 defeat to the German side with goals from
Pavel Pogrebnyak, Konstantin Zyryanov and Vitor Faizulin.
Dick Advocaat had enough selection problems with Andrei Arshavin, Radek
Sirl and Fernando Ricksen being suspended while Ivica Krijanac and Alexander
Anyukov being the only defenders available for the game.
The Bundersliga leaders were the first to test Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav
Malafeev in the opening minutes of the match, but the hosts
took the lead through Pavel Pogrebnyak's free-kick.
Konstantin Zyryanov doubled the score six minutes before going to the
lockers while Faizulin put the German football power to rout.
The man of the match Pavel Pogrebnyak put the final stop to the game halfway
the second half, but ruled himself out of the final game in Manchester
on May 14 as he picked a yellow card.
"We achieved a stunning victory that entered the history of the Russian
football", said Dick Advocaat to Sport Express.
"I believed we would manage to defeat German side, however I didn't
expect our advantage would be as convincing as it turned to be."
"Players fulfilled our key task for the game and I am delighted with
their display."
"We didn't give Bayern territorial advantage and it drove them to
distraction, they got nervous and Zenit left them a single chance to create
many scoring opportunities."
"Zenit played the first violin and dictated their game on the challengers
as we put the game out of the reach."
"We will come up against Rangers in the final game of the competition
and I would be glad to play against my former club."
Sport
Express Daily, 05 May 2008
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