Ex-Valencia coach Unai Emery said Saturday his Spartak Moscow side had been taught a lesson by Rubin Kazan despite beating Rubin 2-1.
Dmitry Kombarov scored the winner from the spot after striker Welliton was brought down by Rubin captain Cristian Ansaldi, although the foul appeared to take place outside the penalty box.
Rubin's Israeli midfielder Bibras Natkho had opened the scoring with a penalty on 36 minutes after the referee pointed to the spot when Alan Kasaev was brought down by Brazilian midfielder Rafael Carioca.
Spartak came back into the match on 73 minutes when Brazil midfielder Romulo scored a debut goal with a powerful bouncing header from a corner.
“In this match we were taught a lesson. We didn’t convert our chances at the start of the match and we were punished for that,” Emery said.
“The result gives the players confidence in their strengths.”
Spartak still need to improve various areas of their game, he said.
“We need to improve our ball possession and get rid of the long punts,” he said.
“However, today the pressing was so strong today that it was hard to get out of that.”
The win leaves Spartak level on points with Zenit St. Petersburg at the top of the table, although Zenit have a game in hand Sunday against Anzhi.
Spartak’s next match is a Champions League playoff first leg against Turkish side Fenerbahce on Tuesday.
