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Rubin and Dynamo draw 0 - 0 |
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Russian champions Rubin Kazan continued their unlikely unbeaten streak in the Champions League with a gritty draw against Dynamo Kiev in Group F.
After taking four points from their two matches with Barcelona, the hard-working hosts stretched their run to four matches and kept alive their hopes of progressing from a group in which they were expected to be outclassed.
Neither side was able to break the deadlock but the game was not short of excitement, with the deadlock only maintained by the excellence of goalkeepers Sergei Ryzhikov and Olexandr Shovkovskiy.
Dynamo started brighter and, after setting the early pace, carved out a chance for Andriy Yarmolenko - who somehow missed the target from just six yards.
Cesar Navas was doing an admirable job of keeping the opposition at bay for Rubin but the home side's forward line was struggling for fluency.
Alejandro Dominguez had a first chance for Rubin in the 31st minute but his firm shot was saved by the alert Shovkovskiy.
The Ukrainians returned fire three minutes later but again paid for a lack of precision as Artem Milevskiy turned Ognjen Vukojevic's pass wide from close range.
Andriy Shevchenko attempted to get into the game with a hopeful strike from over 30 yards but was soon involved for the wrong reasons and earned the first booking of the match for a clumsy foul on Cristian Ansaldi.
Betao was in top form for Dynamo, frequently on hand to clear the away side's lines as Rubin pressed.
Christian Noboa again tested Shovkovskiy as half-time approached but that was merely a prelude to an extravagant Dominguez overhead kick that looked to be destined for the net until the goalkeeper produced a superb parry.
Ryzhikov was the first of the keepers to be called on in the second period, after less than two minutes, but he repelled Gerson Magrao's effort with ease. He had a harder time with Yarmolenko's 51st-minute shot, his save merely finding Shevchenko, who fired over from 12 yards.
Chances continued to come at either end, Magrao and Ansaldi trading efforts around the hour mark and Shevchenko again failing with a speculative long-distance attempt.
The former AC Milan and Chelsea man did much better with a chance from 12 yards with 15 minutes to play, but once again Ryzhikov proved resilient in the Rubin goal, tipping the ball out of play at full stretch.
Dynamo were by now the most likely scorers and Milevskiy was the latest player to be denied by the impressive Ryzhikov. There was another flurry of chances in the closing five minutes, with Betao clearing Milevskiy's header and Shovkovskiy saving Noboa's audacious 87th-minute strike.
Shevchenko, lively but ultimately disappointing, had a final dip at goal in injury time but, as before, the finishing was inferior to the goalkeeping as Ryzhikov secured the clean sheet both he and Shovkovskiy deserved.
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