Oleg Shatov put Zenit St. Petersburg on top early, then Artem Dzyuba finished Valencia off with a second half goal as the Russians made it five victories in a row in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. The 2-0 victory enabled Zenit to clinch the Group H top spot.
Andre Villas-Boas' side had already qualified for the knockout stage before they kicked off, but Zenit is looking to join the 1995-96 Spartak Moscow side as the only Russian team to complete a perfect group stage performance so had plenty of motivation.
They now need to win their finale at Gent for a 6-0-0 record. That result could be vital for Valencia's hopes, too.
The Spaniards, who remained on six points in the group, will need a result against Lyon in their last group match and hope that Gent, which played at Lyon later Tuesday, does not ultimately leap over them for the final qualifying spot from the section.
Spurred on by a noisy crowd in their Petrovskiy Stadium, Zenit looked relaxed and confident from the start, taking the game directly to their injury-hit visitors, who were forced to finish with three teenagers on the field.
Shatov's goal arrived after only 15 minutes when Ruben Vezo misread a long ball forward. Dzyuba picked it up with some space at the top of the D, then spotted Shatov in line with the last defenders about four yards forward. His pass was adeptly timed, Shatov stayed onside and went in alone to beat Juame Domenech.
Danny, Axel Witsel and Hulk were always looking to get forward as Zenit was never afraid to stretch the game and controlled much of the tempo. They did have to survive a scare on the hour mark after a Danny Parejo corner kick was kept alive and Domenico Criscito had to be alert to deny Rafa Mir a chance at the near post, while Igor Smolnikov produced a last-minute clearance from Paco Alcacer just before the interval.
Valencia had a bit more of the ball early in the second half but were correctly denied a goal when the teenager Santi Mina was sent in to beat Yuri Lodygin only for the offside flag to go up in the 67th minute. Often the visitors' possession did not actually lead to legitimate scoring chances as the Zenit defense anticipated well.
Zenit then wrapped it up in the 75th minute with a wonderful 1-2 move between Danny and Shatov. Danny slipped the pass to Shatov down the middle, then collected the return and sent Dzyuba in to tap home from eight yards.
Another lightning Zenit counter attack almost produced a third goal five minutes later, Shatov able to get the better of Ruben Vezo as he tried to break in alone on the left. The Valencia defender was sent off for his tackle on the edge of the box but Hulk put the resulting free kick just past the near post.
