The thousands of supporters who had made the trip south from Scotland would continue to sing their team's praise long after the final whistle, but it was, in truth, a gesture of defiance rather than celebration.

When the Russian midfielder, Konstantin Zurianov, finished a brilliant move with a close-range drive to complement the opening goal from Igor Denisov, it was merely confirmation of Dick Advocaat's team's superiority over that of Walter Smith, the man he succeeded as Rangers manager ten years ago.

Those who had travelled from Russia would have spent the 71 minutes which preceded that first goal wondering if their team would ever overcome Rangers' renowned – or, perhaps, notorious – defensiveness, Smith's players remaining true to the doctrine that had won them few new friends on their way to the final.

But even the most committed of Ibrox supporters would surely have to concede that the better side triumphed, even if the match, in general, tended to be as generally uninspiring as most would have anticipated.

Expectations of the kind of match in which the goalkeepers would be about as busy as understudies were hardly surprising, considering most observers' familiarity with the playing styles – even philosophies – of both sides.

Anticipation of a tight, defensive event would be reinforced by the absence of the suspended Pavel Pogrebnyak, joint leading scorer in the tournament with ten goals.

Rangers' reliance on defending in numbers, of course, had made them the object of criticism – seemingly from all corners of the continent – and, having taken them all the way to the terminus, Smith was never likely to be suddenly overcome with rashness.

Having said before the match that there might be a slight alteration because the nature of the event differed from that of the two-leg ties they had played until last night, his concession seemed to be to switch from a 4-5-1 to a 4-1-4-1, with Brahim Hemdani in the holding midfield role and Jean-Claude Darcheville once again nominated as the lone striker.

In his pre-planning, Advocaat must have realised that no amount of holding back would tease Rangers out of their accustomed reticence, as the Dutchman's players took the initiative and attempted to exert pressure that was, for the most part, more subtle than anything the Ibrox side had encountered in their previous ties. Blessed with an array of players comfortable on the ball and capable of smooth forward movement, Zenit virtually monopolised the ball throughout the first half, Rangers seemingly unable to alter the flow towards their penalty area. They were, however, as competent as we have come to expect in the business of denying their opponents glaring opportunities.

Indeed, it was a measure of their efficiency in protecting Neil Alexander that it should take the Russians, despite their apparent superiority in athleticism and ball skills and the amount of time they passed in Rangers' half of the field, until the 22nd minute to force their first corner kick.

Before that, they had hit the outside of Alexander's net on the right through Andrei Arshavin, who had been supplied by Konstantin Zyrianov after the latter had taken advantage of a slipshod pass from Barry Ferguson in midfield. They had also seen a powerful free-kick from adventurous left-back, Radek Sirl, deflected by Steven Davis, but, swerving and dipping, heading straight into the arms of Alexander.

The Rangers goalkeeper would be made to exert himself a little more by a ferocious, first-time volley from Aleksandr Anyukov, another full-back who operated more as a virtuoso winger. The ball, shoulder-high and slightly to the right of Alexander, was safely gathered at the second attempt.

But Rangers' most frightening moment arrived on the stroke of half-time, when Kirk Broadfoot clearly shot out his right hand to deflect a cross from Arshavin on the left. Peter Frojdfeldt, the Swedish referee, was extremely kind to the Glasgow team by awarding a corner kick, instead of the penalty the offence warranted. A goal for the Russians at that point could not have been considered an injustice, remembering the manner in which they had imposed themselves through the previous 45 minutes.

Rangers themselves, and Ferguson in particular, would have a penalty claim early in the second half, although their case seemed nothing like as strong as Zenit's. Jousting with goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev on the edge of the six-yard box, the Rangers captain had swept the ball away when his right foot was caught by the goalkeeper.

The incident, however, occurred after Rangers' first genuinely incisive move of the match, one that should probably have produced a goal without the need of a generous award from the referee.

It began with Broadfoot's back-heeled pass to Davis, who, seeing Darcheville's diagonal run towards the right side of the area, played the striker in with a perfectly measured pass. Darcheville, from only eight yards out to the right, did not hit the drive as cleanly as required and Malafeev saved low to his right before the scuffle with Ferguson.

But, even before the goal from Denisov, Zenit had continued to look the more ambitious and the better equipped to produce the goal that would effect separation. Indeed, they should have scored after Darcheville's effort had been cleared.

Rangers were uncharacteristically overmanned in their opponent's area at the corner kick from Davis on the left and, when the ball came to Shirokov, the big defender sent it long upfield. Fatih Tekke was clearly going to win the chase when Alexander left his penalty area to try to intercept and, having passed the goal– keeper, the Turkish striker tried to chip the ball into the net.

His attempt eluded Carlos Cuellar, but Sasa Papac had come in behind the Spaniard in time to occupy the position that would allow him to head the ball clear.

If there was a feeling among the Zenit supporters then that their side were overdue and advantage, it would be dispelled by the strike from Denisov soon after. It was a terrific move that began with Tekke's header to Arshavin, allowing the midfielder to carry the ball across the edge of the Rangers area from right to left. His sudden switch, playing a brilliant reverse pass to Denisov, left the latter unchallenged, slipping the ball low to the left of Alexander from 10 yards' range.

It was the moment that promoted Smith into an attempt at remedial action, Nacho Novo replacing Papac to give the team a more adventurous 4-4-3, followed by Lee McCulloch and Kris Boyd's replacement of Hemdani and Steven Whittaker respectively. It would prove, however, to be too late to alter the flow of a match that had been directed almost throughout by Zenit.