Paris, March 13:

Udinese’s 2-0 victory over defending champions Zenit St Petersburg gave Italy

rare cause to celebrate and Manchester City are set fair to reach the UEFA Cup quarter-finals following Thursday’s action.

Udine’s Antonio Di Natale scored in the seventh minute of injury time following Fabio Quagliarella’s 85th minute opener to give Italy some joy as their sole representatives in Europe following their Champions League wipe out before the quarter-finals for the first time in seven years.

Manchester City put one foot in the last eight with a 2-0 win over Danish side Aalborg at Eastlands. Felipe Caicedo and Shaun Wright-Phillips bagged first half goals for Mark Hughes side to put them on course for a first eight spot in this second-tier European competition for the first time in 30 years. It was an up-and-down night for French clubs with Paris Saint Germain getting a goalless draw with Portugal’s Braga, Saint Etienne losing 1-0 at Werder Bremen, though Marseille had an impressive 2-1 victory over Ajax.

In other matches, CSKA Moscow beat Shakhtar Donetsk, and Dynamo Kiev got a victory over Metalist Kharkov, both with 1-0 scorelines. Winners after next week’s second legs

go into the March 20 quarter-final draw.