Rubin within sight of group stage hat-trick

FC Rubin Kazan are one step away from a third successive UEFA Champions League group stage campaign after completing a comfortable aggregate victory against FC Dynamo Kyiv.

The Russian side were favourites to reach the play-offs following a 2-0 first-leg success, and if there were any lingering doubts about their participation in Friday's draw, they were extinguished by Vladimir Dyadyun's 19th-minute opener. Aleksei Medvedev added gloss to the result late on, with Oleh Gusev's added-time reply scant consolation for Dynamo, who drop into the UEFA Europa League play-offs.

A 3-0 home defeat by FC Anzhi Makhachkala at the weekend was hardly ideal preparation for Rubin, yet they soon knocked the wind out of Dynamo's sails, with Dyadyun first to the rebound after Alan Kasaev, leading a counterattack, was thwarted by Olexandr Shovkovskiy.

Dynamo had started purposefully and dominated possession, but their advances could not unsettle a well-drilled Rubin rearguard. Andriy Yarmolenko might have given Yuri Semin's men hope early in the second half had he not missed the target after his initial shot had been blocked, and soon after Dynamo's Russian coach reacted by introducing Andriy Shevchenko in favour of Danilo Silva.

While injecting some life into a hitherto subdued Dynamo attack, it failed to spark the comeback Semin had hoped for. With the clock ticking down, Medvedev underlined Rubin's superiority in the tie by turning in Christian Noboa's cross, and Gusev's subsequent reply counted for little.