Nick Powell's first-half goal was enough to earn Wigan Athletic a 1-1 home draw as they faced Rubin Kazan in the Europa League this evening.
Wigan piled on the early pressure as they went in search of a lead, with Manchester United loanee Powell forcing Sergey Ryzhikov into a good save in the ninth minute of the game.
Aleksandr Prudnikov looked dangerous playing on the last man and he gave Rubin the lead in the 15th minute with an emphatic finish after collecting a defence-splitting ball from Chris Mavinga.
Wigan looked to grab an equaliser before half time with Ben Watson testing Ryzhikov again, but the goalkeeper did well to get himself behind the ball.
With the clock ticking towards the break Rubin thought they had done enough to get into their dressing room unscathed, but Powell had other ideas as he took hold of Watson's pass before firing into the net to leave the score at 1-1 going into the break.
Both sides pushed for a winner in the latter stages of the second half, but neither could fashion a telling chance.
Marc-Antoine Fortune perhaps had the best opportunity, though Ryzhikov was equal to his effort in the dying minutes as the game ended 1-1.
Christopher Dodd
