Monaco, 30 August 2008 (RIA-Novosti):
FC Zenit St Petersburg beat FC Manchester United 2-1 to lift the Super Cup, the annual fixture between the holders of the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. Manchester United won the Champions League in Moscow last May, a week after Zenit had claimed the UEFA Cup in the Red Devils’ hometown, and the two sides faced off on Friday evening in Monaco.
Zenit left their unsettled star Andrei Arshavin on the bench and fielded the player widely seen as his replacement, the Portuguese attacking midfielder, Danny. The St Petersburg club, controlled by state-run Gazprom, earlier this week paid Dynamo Moscow 30 million euros (1.083 billion roubles. 44.021 million USD. 24.167 million UK pounds) to secure the services of the talented 25-year-old. The fee was a new Russian transfer record. The 2007 Russian champions started brightly, and deservedly took the lead on the stroke of half-time, Pavel Pogrebnyak heading home from a corner.
The second-half saw Arshavin make an appearance, but, it was Danny who stole the show, slicing through the United defence for a fine solo goal on the stroke of the hour. Manchester came back, and former Spartak Moscow defender Nemanja Vidic slammed home a close range shot in the 73rd minute. Zenit did more than hold on for victory though, and Danny could have had a third in the dying minutes after a fine run and one-two with Arshavin. United’s fans thought their side had scored an equalizer a few minutes later, but a replay clearly showed that Paul Scholes had put the ball in the net with his hand, and the midfielder was shown a red card.
“This is a great step forward for Russian football”, said Zenit goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeyev. “This match was important for the whole of Russia”. Zenit now looks to the Champions League, which begins on 16 September. The new Super Cup holders are in a group with Real Madrid, Juventus, and Belarus champions BATE Borisov. On this form, Zenit cannot be written off.
RIA-Novosti
http://en.rian.ru/sports/20080830/116404217.html (in English)
