Europa League

More home comforts for Rubin

Rubin Kazan claimed their first victory in Group H of the Europa League by beating Partizan Belgrade 2-0, which also kept their magnificent home record in European competition intact.

Gokdeniz Karadeniz opened the scoring just before the interval, although Partizan Belgrade had looked the better team up until that point, before Alexander Ryazantsev sealed the points within three minutes of the re-start.

The win means Rubin preserved their unbeaten home record in the group stages of the competition and join Inter Milan, who triumphed 3-1 at Neftchi, on four points in Group H.

The hosts, however, were forced onto the back foot for large periods of the first half and goalkeeper Sergei Ryzhikov was forced to make a fine save from Nikola Ninkovic's strike from the edge of the area.

Serbia Under-21 international Ninkovic was again thwarted by Ryzhikov, who parried away the 17-year-old midfielder's 25-yard drive.

His brace of saves proved crucial as the Russian side took the lead against the run of play on the stroke of half-time.

Partizan goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic had parried away Roman Eremenko's effort but Karadeniz picked up the ball from the by-line before dribbling into the area and firing into the roof of the net.

Buoyed by their goal, Rubin doubled their lead soon after when Eremenko collected the ball from Jose Rondon before teeing up Ryazantsev, who poked home.

That seemed to suck the wind out of Partizan, who have a woeful record on their travels in European competition, and the closest they came thereafter was Mohamed Medo's 25-yard strike which missed the target.

At the other end, Marques Carlos Eduardo's strike from just outside the box was saved by Partizan stopper Vladimir Stojkovic in the closing stages to ensure the score remained respectable.