Zenit continue to confound expectation

FC Zenit St. Petersburg will hope to continue their ground-breaking season when they welcome Olympique de Marseille to the Petrovsky stadium for the second leg of their UEFA Cup last-16 tie. Vlastimil Petržela's side are seeing in the dawn of spring in Russia with their UEFA Cup ambitions still intact for the first time in their history, and confounded expectations as they took a significant step towards the last eight with an impressive 1-0 win against ten-man Olympique de Marseille at the Stade Vélodrome.

• Andrei Arshavin scored his third goal of the competition six minutes after half-time and that proved decisive as Marseille saw a previously impeccable record against Russian opposition spoiled. It got worse for the French team when Franck Ribéry was dismissed midway through the second half, and they will go into the second leg without the talismanic forward.

• It was Ribéry who guided Jean Fernandez's team into the last 16, inspiring them to a 2-1 comeback victory against Bolton Wanderers FC at the Stade Véledrome after the first leg had finished goalless in England. After falling behind, the 1993 European champions equalised through the French Under-21 international on the stroke of half-time and did not look back as Tal Ben Haim's own goal sealed their progress. It continues a fine run by the Russian team, who easily negotiated the group stage with victories against SC Heerenveen, FC Dinamo 1948 Bucuresti and holders PFC CSKA Moskva, although a weakened side did slip to a 1-0 defeat against PFC Levski Sofia.

• Zenit have also slipped up en route to the last-16, coincidentally losing to Bolton during the group stage. However, that was a rare low point in a campaign full of highs for the St. Petersburg outfit. Wins against Vitória SC and Sevilla FC, and a point at Beşiktaş JK, secured second place in the section, and the architects of much of their success - Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Arshavin - continued their fine goalscoring form against Rosenborg BK in the last 32. Both were on target as the side opened up a 2-0 lead at the Petrovsky stadium, and Kerzhakov added another in the return as Zenit eventually triumphed 4-1 on aggregate.

• The first leg was the first ever meeting between Marseille and Zenit in UEFA club competition, and the result spoiled the French side's hitherto flawless record against Russian opposition with Marseille remaining unbeaten in five previous encounters. The first meeting came in the 1990/91 European Champions Clubs' Cup semi-finals when the Riviera side were drawn against FC Spartak Moskva. Abédi Pelé gave Marseille the best possible start in the Russian capital, setting his side on course for a 3-1 victory, and when the Ghanaian striker repeated the feat in the return the result was never really in doubt. His side went on to lose the final against FK Crvena Zvezda, however.

• The French side were paired with PFC CSKA Moskva in the group stage of the same competition two years later and, after earning a 1-1 draw in Russia, they romped to an emphatic 6-0 victory on home soil as Franck Sauzée hit a hat-trick. CSKA Moskva were again the opponents earlier this season as goals from Sabri Lamouchi and Mamadou Niang helped Marseille ease to a 2-1 win in Russia.

• That was the same score by which Zenit lost in their only previous encounter with French opposition, against LOSC Lille Métropole in last season's UEFA Cup group stage - the ever reliable Kerzhakov scoring the visitors' consolation.