Hoops keeper saves penalty after Rubin take early lead

Shamrock Rovers 0 Rubin Kazan 1

Obafemi Martins reminded Shamrock Rovers of just how tough their Europa League mission could be as Rubin Kazan took an early lead at Tallaght Stadium.

The former Newcastle striker, whose Carling Cup winner at Wembley fired Birmingham into the same competition, needed less than three minutes to give the Russians an advantage in their opening Group A game.

It might have been worse for Rovers had keeper Ryan Thompson not saved Nelson Valdez’s 36th-minute penalty after Martins had been felled by defender Craig Sives.

The visitors kicked off into a stiff breeze blowing from behind Hoops keeper Ryan Thompson's goal, but they were ahead with less than three minutes on the clock.

Wide man Gokdeniz Karadeniz cut inside from the left to square for Martins, whose left-footed shot was well placed rather than well struck and ended up in the bottom corner.

Rovers responded well as McCormack and O’Donnell, whose penalty in Belgrade put the Irish side through, combined to find full-back Enda Stevens, although he surrendered possession before he could do any damage.

But it took a timely clearance by Pat Sullivan to deny striker Nelson Valdez a seventh-minute shot at goal after Karadeniz had once again opened up the home defence.

Valdez fired a snap-shot over the top two minutes later after Martins had reacted most swiftly to a loose ball on the edge of the penalty area.

To their credit, Michael O’Neill’s men were not panicking as they attempted to work their way back into the game, although with Karadeniz a persistent threat on the counter-attack, they could not afford to lose concentration for a second.

The home side created their first chance with 16 minutes gone when Ricketts did well down the left to cross for O’Donnell, who beat keeper Sergei Ryzhikov to the ball, but could not keep his header down.

Rubin enforcer Aleksandr Ryazantsev stretched the patience of Hungarian referee Zsolt Szabo too far when he clattered into Ricketts for a second time in quick succession and was booked.

The Russians’ slick passing game and movement were stretching their hosts repeatedly, but with skipper Dan Murray leading by example at the heart of the defence, Rovers were resisting.

Indeed, they were more than making a game of it with Ricketts in particular threatening to make life difficult for full-back Vitali Kaleshin.

The defender needed treatment after clash with Ricketts on the half-hour, but was able to continue, although clearly in some discomfort.

O’Neill’s men had picked up the rhythm of the game, although Murray had to be in the right place at the right time to clear Ryazantsev’s 34th-minute cross after full-back Salvatore Bocchetti had broken down the left.

However, they were in trouble once again seconds later when Martins got the better of central defender Craig Sives and went down under his clumsy challenge inside the box, and Mr Szabo had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.

But keeper Thompson dived to his right to save Valdez’s spot-kick and then made a second block before Murray hacked clear.

The whistle signalled the end of a tough first half for the Dublin side, but one in which they had more than made a game of it.