Zenit St Petersburg took a giant stride towards the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday night after overcoming 10-man Torino in the first leg of their round of 16 tie . Axel Witsel and Domenico Criscito were on target for Andre Villas-Boas ' side at the Stadion Petrovskij as Marco Benassi was dismissed in the first half for the visitors . Zenit have not progressed beyond this stage of a European competition since they won the UEFA Cup back in 2008 but will be clear favourites heading to Turin next week for the second leg . Axel Witsel celebrates after opening the scoring for Zenit St Petersburg against Torino on Thursday . Marco Benassi is sent off after just 28 minutes after picking up his second yellow card . Bazilian forward Hulk takes a strike at goal during the first leg of the Europa League last-16 clash . Zenit ( 4-2-3-1 ) : Lodygin ; Smolnikov , Neto , Garay , Criscito ; Javi Garcia , Witsel ; Hulk , Shatov ( Ryazantsev 81 ) , Danny ; Rondon . Subs not used : Baburin , Lombaerts , Zuev , Mogilevets , Tymoshchuk , Sheydaev . Scorers : Witsel 38 , Criscito 54 . Booked : Garcia , Smolnikov , Ryazantsev . Manager : ANdre Villas-Boas . Torino ( 3-5-2 ) : Padelli ; Maksimovic , Glik , Moretti ; Darmian , Benassi , Gazzi , El Kaddouri , Molinaro ; Martinez ( Vives 34 , Farnerud 50 ) , Quagliarella ( Lopez 74 ) Subs not used : Castellazzi , Bovo , Silva , Amauri . Booked : Glik , Molinaro . Sent off : Benassi 28 . Manager : Giampiero Ventura . The Russians returned from a two-and-a-half month break in competitive football at the end of February and came into Thursday 's match with three straight wins without conceding a goal . Zenit controlled the early exchanges , dominating possession as Torino defended deep . The Italian 's already difficult task became harder when , on just 28 minutes Benassi walked . The midfielder was cautioned as early as the 12th minute when he pulled back Hulk as the Brazilian attempted to spring a counter-attack , before naively challenging Witsel to earn a second booking . The hosts eventually took the lead in the 38th minute . Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel pounced inside the penalty area when Torino failed to clear after Daniele Padelli could only parry an Igor Smolnikov effort . Salomon Rondon thought he had doubled the advantage before the break when he turned Witsel 's pass into the net , but it was correctly ruled out for offside . Belgium international Witsel is mobbed by his team-mates after giving Zenit the lead in the first half . Domenico Criscito is congratulated by his team-mates after doubling the Russians ' advantage . After the restart Hulk should have increased the lead . After a neat one-two with Danny the former Porto forward fired a tame effort that was easily kept out by Padelli . But Zenit were soon celebrating again as Italian left back Criscito turned home the rebound after Hulk had struck the post .
Zenit beat Torino two-0 in the first leg of the their Europa League last-16 tie . Marco Benassi was sent off for the visitors after receiving 2 yellow cards . Axel Witsel put Andre Villas-Boas ' side 1-0 after finishing from close range . Domenico Criscito added a second for the Russians in the second half .