Robinho in action during Manchester City’s Uefa Cup match against Aalborg on Thursday. (AP)

London: Defending champions Zenit St Petersburg were knocked out of the Uefa Cup on Thursday despite a 1-0 win over Udinese. Zenit captain Anatoly Tymoshchuk scored in the first half but Udinese advanced to the quarter finals 2-1 on aggregate.

There were no former winners left in European football’s second-tier tournament after Galatasaray and CSKA Moscow were also eliminated. Hamburg scored three second-half goals to win 3-2 at Galatasaray and progress 4-3 on aggregate, while CSKA Moscow were eliminated 2-1 on aggregate after a 2-0 loss at Shakhtar Donetsk.

Dynamo Kiev, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City also advanced to join Wednesday’s qualifiers, Marseille and Werder Bremen, in the quarter final draw. Udinese forward Fabio Quagliarella twice headed over the Zenit bar before Tymoshchuk scored in the 34th minute after a goalmouth scramble.

Tymoshchuk directed a header from point-blank range to the left of Udinese goalkeeper Samir Handanovic, who clawed the ball away only after it had crossed the line. The Russian team could have scored a second goal and evened the score at 2-2 in the 38th but Viktor Fayzulin poked the ball over the bar from close after Konstantin Ziryanov’s through pass.