Smash hit

Carlos Tévez was the best of it for United, turning in a courageously hard-working performance, which set up the best chance of the first half for Wayne Rooney — he got the ball trapped beneath his feet and by the time he recovered, his shot was blocked easily by Vyacheslav Malafeev, the goalkeeper — and provided the pass for the goal scored by Nemanja Vidic in the 72nd minute to set up a finish far closer than United deserved.

Only Zenit’s naivety in seeing out the game, and the sheer persistence for which English teams are famed, allowed United to make a contest of it, but if this were a boxing match the points decision would have been overwhelmingly with the Russians (who would also have swept the board on artistic achievement had it been one of those sports in which grace is all).

Even before the half-time introduction of Andrei Arshavin, Zenit’s approach play was sublime, a fluid, technical style that marked their progress in Europe last season, and they will certainly be feared by their Champions League group opponents, Real Madrid, Juventus and the luckless BATE Borisov, of Belarus.

The threat was signalled early: a run by Alexander Anyukov, the magnificent right back, which proved the start of a harrowing night for Evra, cutting the ball back before Pavel Pogrebnyak shot over. Tall, blond, skilful and imposing, the striker has much of Roman Pavlyuchenko about him and it is no coincidence that the pair could have been working in tandem at Euro 2008 had Pogrebnyak not suffered an injury that kept him out of the tournament.

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Clearly not the luckiest guy, he was suspended for the Uefa Cup final with Rangers, but his performance here would have been some consolation, a constant thorn in the side of United’s central-defensive pairing, even the physically commanding Vidic.

It was Pogrebnyak who kept United preoccupied at the back and Pogrebnyak who broke the deadlock in the 44th minute. Having played so beautifully with the ball on the ground, it was ironic that Zenit’s goal came from the one aspect of play in which Premier League teams traditionally dominate: winning the ball from set-pieces.

Zenit came out best, not from one header, but two, first when Igor Denisov outjumped Evra from Danny’s corner, and then when Pogrebnyak lost Ferdinand, his marker, to force the ball over the line (it would probably have gone in anyway, such was the comprehensive nature of Denisov’s victory at the near post). The goal may have overturned the form book, but anyone who saw the game would not have been surprised. We may have to adjust our expectations, and sitting in the stand, Roman Abramovich may have the beginnings of an emotional conflict, too. It is not just Manchester United supporters who have cause to worry.

Manchester United (4-4-2): E van der Sar 6 —G Neville 6 (sub: W Brown, 76min), R Ferdinand 5, N Vidic 6, P Evra 5 — D Fletcher 5 (sub: Park Ji Sung, 60 7), P Scholes 5, Anderson 5 (sub: J O’Shea, 60 7), Nani 5 — W Rooney 5, C Tévez 7. Substitutes not used: T Kusczak, D Gibson, F Campbell, R Possebon. Booked: Anderson, Scholes, Tévez. Sent off: Scholes.

Zenit St Petersburg (4-1-2-3): V Malafeev 6 —A Anyukov 7, I Krizanac 7 (sub: V Radimov, 71 5),S Puygrenier 6 (sub: R Shirokov, 62 5), R Sirl 6 — A Tymoschuk 7 — I Denisov 7, K Zyryanov 7 — Danny 8, P Pogrebnyak 8, A Dominguez 7 (sub:A Arshavin, 46 7). Substitutes not used: K Contofalsky, Kim Dong Jin, Fatih Tekke, V Fayzulin.

Referee: C Bo Larsen (Denmark).