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Zenit St. Petersburg moved to the verge of advancing to the UEFA Cup semifinals Thursday, and Getafe, PSV Eindhoven and Sporting Lisbon had valuable away draws to be well placed.

Zenit won 4-1 at Bayer Leverkusen in the opening leg of the quarter-finals for European soccer's second-tier club competition.

Zenit striker Pavel Pogrebnyak celebrates scoring in Thursday's 4-1 triumph.
(Roberto Pfeil/Associated Press)

While Getafe scored a last-minute goal to draw 1-1 at Bayern Munich, PSV Eindhoven drew by the same score at Fiorentina, and Sporting Lisbon held Rangers 0-0.

Zenit, the Russian league champion, is poised to reach the final four of the UEFA Cup for the first time after scoring three goals in 13 second-half minutes against Leverkusen, the 1988 winner.

"That was really sobering," Leverkusen coach Michael Skibbe said. "We were all so off our game you can't pin it on individuals."

Pavel Pogrebnyak, Aleksandr Anyukov and Igor Denisov scored for Zenit after the two teams were locked at 1-1.

Pogrebnyak scored in the 53rd minute on a breakaway for his eighth goal in the competition this season, drawing level as leading scorer with Bayern striker Luca Toni.

Anyukov made it 3-1 in the 61st with a long-range shot, and Igor Denisov finished the rout three minutes later by shooting past goalkeeper Rene Adler.

Andrei Arshavin had earlier given Zenit a 1-0 lead with a 20th-minute goal from a solo run after Tranquillo Barnetta's errant pass.

But Stefan Kiessling equalized for Leverkusen in the 33rd.

Zenit coach Dick Advocaat watched from the stands in the last of a three-match ban from the dugout.

Getafe, PSV need equalizers 

The Barcelona-based Getafe drew with Bayern in its first European season, thanks to Cosmin Contra's 90th-minute equalizer.

Contra chipped a loose ball over the defence after goalkeeper Oliver Kahn rushed out to smother Juan Angel Albin's attempt.

Bayern's goal came when Toni jumped higher than two defenders and headed in a corner from Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 26th minute.

Bayern is seeking a second UEFA Cup title, after 1996, and, if it advances after the second leg on April 10, it will now most likely avoid an all-German semifinal after Leverkusen's collapse.

The other semifinal matchup would pit either Fiorentina or PSV against Rangers or Sporting Lisbon.

Adrian Mutu put Fiorentina in front in the 56th minute and Danny Koevermans equalized for PSV in the 63rd.

Mutu's fourth goal in the tournament came when a kick from Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey travelled all the way to the opposite area and the Romania forward hit the ball into the head of PSV goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes.

The ball bounced back off Mutu and into the net.

Seven minutes later, Koevermans slipped by Fiorentina's defence and connected from the edge of the area to score.

"We tried to quicken the pace but they're a great club," Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli said. "We've got to go to Holland now to try to score a goal and win the game."

Gomes was injured while attempting a kick and replaced by reserve Bas Roorda in the 61st.

PSV's most dangerous striker, Jefferson Farfan, will miss the second leg after picking up a yellow card in added time.

Rangers struggled to produce a shot on target against Sporting.

The Portuguese team had several chances in the second half, through Leandro Grimi, Simon Vukcevic, Anderson Polga and Leonel Tonel.

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