MOSCOW, February 27 (RIA Novosti) - Both CSKA Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg progressed to the last 16 of the UEFA Cup on Thursday evening after comfortable wins over England's Aston Villa and German club VfB Stuttgart, respectively.
CSKA and Aston Villa fought out a thrilling 1-1 tie in England on February 18, and the scene was set for an equally as exciting second leg in Moscow. However Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neil subsequently decided that with his team challenging for a place in the top four of the English Premier League, and with it a spot in the lucrative Champions League, that he would drop eight key players for the Moscow return match.
Among the footballers O'Neil left at home were England internationals Gareth Barry, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ashley Young, and Emile Heskey.
A weakened Aston Villa managed to keep the score at 0-0 until half-time without ever troubling the Muscovites' goal, Alan Dzagoyev going close for CSKA with a free-kick early on and Vagner Love always looking likely to cause problems.
Chelsea and Bayern Munich target Yuri Zhirkov should have put CSKA ahead immediately after break, Villa keeper Brad Guzan saving well after the Russian international had broken clear.
However, it was Zhirkov who finally gave the 2005 UEFA Cup champions the goal they deserved, hammering home from just outside the box in the 61st minute after a well-worked free kick.
CSKA continued to threaten, creating half chance after half chance before Vagner Love broke clear in injury time to fire home the home side's second and his 10th of the 2008/09 UEFA Cup. 2-0 to CSKA on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.
"Who knows whether we'd have won with a full complement of players? Who knows? We'll never know," O'Neil said after the match.
"I'm very satisfied with our performance," commented CSKA manager Zico, for whom the game was his first match since taking over at the club late last year. "We are just starting the season, and we were immediately given such a strong opponent." The new Russian season kicks off on March 14.
CSKA will now face Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk in the last 16.
UEFA Cup holders Zenit defeated VfB Stuttgart 2-1 in the first leg in Russia's snowbound northern capital and were hoping to avenge a UEFA Cup 1989/1990 5-0 defeat in southern Germany.
The Germans hit the post in the 33rd minute after a snap shot from the edge of the box by Brazilian forward Cacao, and the striker went close again from close range with six minutes left in the first half.
However, it was Zenit who took the lead in the 42nd minute as two former Dynamo Moscow players combined, Portuguese international Danny crossing for Igor Semshov to power home.
The second half saw Zenit, cheered on at the stadium by Russian boxing giant Nikolai Valuev, control the tempo of the game, but the Russians seemed to relax too early, allowing substitute Timo Gebhart space to run and shoot into the bottom left corner with just ten minutes left to play.
However, Zenit grabbed a second with minutes on the clock, Danny again the architect, lobbing Jans Lehman in the Stuttgart goal for Viktor Fayzulin to poke the ball into the empty net. At 2-1, and 4-2 on aggregate, there was no way back for the Germans, and Fayzulin could have increased the Russian club's lead in injury time, his shot coming back off the woodwork.
"It was a well-deserved win," Zenit manager Dick Advocaat told St. Petersburg television.
Zenit will now face Italian club Udinese in the next round.
In the surprise of the night, UEFA Cup favorites AC Milan were knocked out of the tournament by German club Werder Bremen on away goals after drawing 2-2 at home following a 1-1 draw in Germany.
