On a frustrating night for Manchester United in Monaco, Zenit St Petersburg won 2-1 to become the first Russian team to lift the European Super Cup.

Goals from Pavel Pogrebnyak and Danny either side of half-time were enough to give Zenit a memorable win. A rare Nemanja Vidic goal gave the Reds some hope and made for a good final 20 minutes but, in spite of John O’Shea twice coming close late on, Zenit managed to hang on.

United’s frustration was evident in the final minutes as Paul Scholes received his marching orders for a second bookable offence, this time an intentional handball, the first being for a bad tackle. He directed Wes Brown’s cross goalwards with his arm and was rightly punished. He will now miss United’s home game against Villarreal in the Champions League.

After a nervy opening few minutes, the game became a bit more open with Gary Neville making some good runs down the right flank for United and Danny creating inroads in United’s defence from the right. But the first real chance of the game fell to Zenit striker Pogrebnyak, who fired high from 12 yards out. Rooney also had a good chance 10 minutes from the break but was halted by some good goalkeeping.

The first goal came late in the first half from a corner. The ball was flicked on past Edwin van der Sar and Scholes might have been able to clear it had Pogrebnyak not reacted quickly to bundle it over the line.

The second half was played at an even quicker pace. Andrei Arshavin, widely regarded as Russia’s finest player, came on as a substitute and immediately found some joy on the left hand side. Carlos Tevez also created chances at the other end. Van der Sar made a good save to deny Anatoliy Tymoschuk but was powerless to prevent Zenit’s second goal.