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Twente recover to knock out Rubin

FC Twente 2-2 FC Rubin Kazan (agg: 4-2)
Goals either side of half-time helped the Dutch club to advance after Rubin had wiped out their first-leg deficit in some style.

Douglas (centre) celebrates his equaliser on the night for Twente
Douglas (centre) celebrates his equaliser on the night for Twente ©Getty Images

FC Twente booked themselves another UEFA Europa League trip to Russia in the round of 16 by recovering from two goals down to draw with FC Rubin Kazan.

Spectacular strikes midway through the first half from Cristian Ansaldi and Christian Noboa cancelled out Twente's 2-0 victory in the opening instalment of the tie last week. However, Twente responded with goals either side of the break from Theo Janssen and Douglas, and now face a tie next month with 2008 UEFA Cup winners FC Zenit St Petersburg, themselves the architect of a fine comeback earlier in the day against BSC Young Boys.

After a slow start the deadlock was broken when Ansaldi collected a long diagonal ball from César Navas before unleashing a swerving effort from the corner of the box that crept past Nikolay Mihaylov at his near post. Rubin had Twente on the ropes and took full advantage two minutes later, when Noboa cut in between two defenders and unleashed a ferocious curling effort into the top left-hand corner.

Twente almost hit back immediately when Denny Landzaat's cross from the right found Bryan Ruiz unmarked six metres out, but the Costa Rica striker's header rattled the crossbar with Sergei Ryzhikov rooted to the spot. However, it was the home side that went into the break ahead in the tie. In the first minute of added time Janssen strode forward, having picked up the ball in midfield, and from 30 metres hit an unstoppable drive into the bottom right-hand corner.

Rubin's resistance was then broken straight after the break. Douglas, up from the back, lost his marker with an intelligent run from the far post which ended with him heading in Janssen's inswinging corner and restoring Twente's two-goal advantage in the tie.

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