Prank causes Zenit little alarm

WINNING the Uefa Cup final was the ideal way for Zenit St Petersburg players to forget all about the bad night's sleep they had – thanks to a prank by Rangers fans in their Chester hotel.

Goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev revealed the team were woken up by a middle-of-the-night fire alarm on the eve of their 2-0 victory over Rangers at the City of Manchester stadium.

"At 12 o'clock (midnight] the alarm went off, everyone ran out of their rooms, we thought we were on fire," said Malafeev "But they explained that it was three Glasgow fans who had set off the alarm on the third floor.

"I am glad we won the trophy for St Petersburg and also for the whole country. I think they will even have been watching it in Vladivostok," he added, referring to the city near the Russo-Chinese border.