zenit hold on despite late torino rally published: thursday 19 march 2015, 23.00cet torino fc 1-0 fc zenit (agg: 1-2) andré villas-boas kept alive his hopes of winning the competition for a second time, despite zenit's late scare after kamil glik scored.
• kamil glik scores 90th-minute header to create tense finale • zenit's domenico criscito, danny and ıgor smolnikov earn one-match bans • torino exit but remain unbeaten in 11 european home games • exclusive behind-the-scenes photos from the stadio olimpico ahead of the second leg • quarter-final draw in nyon on friday at 13.00cet
fc zenit progressed to the uefa europa league quarter-finals despite suffering a late scare as torino fc rallied with kamil glik's 90th-minute header.
the hosts were looking to overturn a two-goal deficit from the round of 16 first leg and struggled to craft openings, with andré villas-boas's team determined to preserve their advantage. zenit's portuguese coach won this competition with fc porto and the russian premier-liga leaders showed plenty of pragmatism in their approach to stifling the opposition, aside from a few set-piece opportunities, until glik's late header gave him cause for concern.
alexander farnerud had appeared the player most likely on either side to help break the deadlock and torino's sweden midfielder went close with a 17th-minute free-kick. another shot from a farnerud set piece deflected out for a corner, and anatoliy tymoshchuk had to produce a brave clearance from the resulting goalmouth scramble, with fabio quagliarella coming closest to getting a decisive touch.
while zenit rarely seemed troubled until the closing moments, domenico criscito, danny and ıgor smolnikov all earned bookings that leave them suspended for their quarter-final first leg.
torino had the ball in the net four minutes after the interval from a farnerud cross, but glik's header was ruled offside. zenit goalkeeper yuri lodygin then made superb stops from josef martínez and alessandro gazzi efforts before glik nodded home a cesare bovo cross to make for an anxious six minutes of added time as torino looked to an aerial route to find an aggregate leveller.
