Ivorian striker Lacina Traore scored on his Russian Premier League debut for Anzhi to defeat his old club FC Kuban on Sunday.
Two minutes before the break, the tall target gave Anzhi the eventual winner against the club he left last month, converting Mbark Boussoufa’s low cross.
Dan Petrescu’s Kuban had earlier taken the lead in bizarre fashion in the opening seconds of the game as Igor Lolo’s pass deflected off Anzhi defender Joao Carlos’ outstretched leg and looped over goalkeeper Vladimir Gabulov into the net.
Samuel Eto’o equalized on 31 minutes after strong Anzhi pressure, tapping in on the rebound after his first effort was blocked by goalkeeper Alexander Belenov.
The match died down in the second half, with both teams struggling to create chances.
"We didn't do all that well tactically, defensively, but I must give them a compliment for how they reacted in the first half," Anzhi coach Guus Hiddink said of his team's comeback.
Conceding the freakish opener within the first minute seemed to spur Hiddink’s men on and they controlled the first half, spurning several good chances in the process.
Traore had missed a clear-cut opportunity on his debut against FC Honved in a midweek European tie, and did the same again with his first opportunity on 12 minutes, smashing the ball at Belenov from close range.
Eto’o did much the same from a Boussoufa corner five minutes later, before Joao Carlos headed over the bar from Rasim Tagirbekov’s deep cross and Zelao missed the target for Kuban soon afterwards in a rare venture upfield for the visitors.
Just before Traore scored, Belenov displayed lightning reactions to save a wickedly curling Boussoufa free-kick.
Kuban thought they had equalized on 54 minutes when Lolo’s low shot found the net, but the Togolese midfielder’s effort was disallowed for offside, despite Lolo appearing to be onside by at least a yard.
The Romanian duo of Gheorghe Bucur and new signing Daniel Niculae combined to create a chance for Kuban on 72 minutes, but Gabulov had little trouble catching Niculae’s header.
Four minutes later, Odil Akhmedov sent a shot over the bar for Anzhi.
The Dagestan-based club next face Honved in their Europa League return leg Thursday before taking on FC Rostov on Sunday, while Kuban will play Mordovia Saransk on Friday.
The final tie of the first round of games sees Kuban’s local rivals FC Krasnodar take on Rubin Kazan on Monday.
