MOSCOW, February 19 (RIA Novosti) - Zenit St. Petersburg overcame snow and frost to beat VfB Stuttgart 2-1 in Russia's northern capital, while CSKA Moscow held Aston Villa 1-1 in England in UEFA Cup first-leg Round of 32 ties on Wednesday.
Zenit, the UEFA Cup holders, got the perfect start to their first competitive match since December 10, new signing Szabolcs Huszti giving them the lead in the 2nd minute, the skillful Hungarian shooting home after Jens Lehmann could only push out a powerful shot by another new Zenit player, Igor Semshov.
However, Zenit were caught napping 13 minutes later as Mario Gomez was allowed time and space to pick his spot from the edge of the box.
The Russians warmed the near capacity crowd when a tremendous shot from outside the area by captain Anatoly Tymoshchuk restored their lead just before the break, the thunderbolt leaving ex-Arsenal goalkeeper Lehman with no chance.
Tymoshchuk, who has agreed to join German club giants Bayern Munich in July, was Zenit's best player in both halves, popping up all over the pitch to break down Stuttgart attacks and set up Zenit raids on Lehman's goal. However, the Ukrainian received a yellow card in injury time, and will miss the return leg in Germany.
The second half saw Zenit press for a third goal, but the final touch to some impressive build-up play would not come. Despite their inability to find a third, the Russians will have been pleased with their first official game of 2009, the performance boding well for both a sustained European campaign and the new domestic season, which starts in March.
CSKA Moscow, UEFA Cup winners in 2005, travelled to England to take on Aston Villa. The Birmingham side are in third place in the English Premier League and enjoying their best season for years, yet the former Red Army club silenced the home fans in the 14th minute with a goal by Vagner Love, the Brazilian combining superbly with Russian youngster Alan Dzagoyev to slot home past Brad Guzan. The goal was Love's ninth in this season's UEFA Cup.
New CSKA manager Zico could not have dreamed of a better start, especially as the Russians, like Zenit, had not played a competitive fixture since early December. They continued to look dangerous throughout the first half, but Aston Villa had the better chances before the break, with Gabriel Agbonlahor and John Carew missing good opportunities to level.
CSKA's lack of match practice seemed to tell in the second half as Villa, roared on by the home crowd, pressed forward. However, CSKA defender Aleksei Berezutski could have doubled the Russian club's lead in the 67th minute, shooting wide after being played through by Love. With 21 minutes to go, John Carew met a pass from Craig Gardener to fire the English team level.
Despite their pressure, Villa were unable to score a second, and the Russians are now slight favorites to progress.
The second legs of both matches will be played on February 26.
