Gullit out of luck again

MOSCOW (AFP) - Ruud Gullit is still searching for his first Russian League win after his Chechen side Terek Grozny were beaten 2-0 by Rubin Kazan.

Sunday's loss came on top of last weekend's opening 1-0 defeat at home to champions Zenit St Petersburg, who on Monday made it two wins out of two with a 2-0 win over Anzhi Makhachkala.

Gullit, the 48-year-old two-time world player of the year, saw his new side dominated by Rubin Kazan, with Turkish striker Karadeniz Gokdeniz opening the scoring in the 33rd minute from Vladimir Dyadyun's short cross.

The hosts' Ecuadorian midfielder Christian Noboa added his goal 12 minutes after the interval, redirecting fellow Argentinian teammate Christian Ansaldi's shot into the net to secure a well deserved win for Rubin.

Gullit, whose team are bottom of the table, commented: "It's a pity we failed again to convert our opportunities into goals. The hosts used their chances much better and won the match deservedly."

Zenit St Petersburg meanwhile share top spot with Rubin.

Zenit got off to a lively start, taking the lead in the sixth minute through their midfielder Roman Shirokov, who sent a rebound into an unguarded net following a corner by Danko Lazovic.

Lazovic made it 2-0 in the second minute of first-half injury time, beating Anzhi goalkeeper Nukri Revishvili with a well-struck freekick.

After the interval Zenit continued testing the visitors' defence and keeping Revishvili on his toes but failed to increase their lead.

"Recently we beat Anzhi 1-0 on their turf in the Russian Cup," Zenit manager Luciano Spalletti said.

"Today we created more chances and managed to score more goals but it was even harder to win as they concentrated their forces in defence and were playing much more carefully."