Azim was still smiling when the referee gestured for Liverpool to return to their positions.
He rose from the turf and brushed the grass from his shorts. His teammates patted his back as they headed toward the centre circle.
Firmino caught up with him.
"Chest control too?" the Brazilian asked. "You couldn't make it simple?"
Azim grinned.
"You gave me a good pass."
"I gave you a pass. You made it look ridiculous."
"Then give me another."
Firmino shook his head, laughing.
"You're unbelievable."
Azim's smile softened as he looked toward Rubin's defenders.
They were already talking among themselves.
Kvirkvelia gestured toward Ozdoev, seemingly questioning the pass. Ozdoev replied sharply, pointing to the grass where the ball had reached him.
Ryzhikov was shouting at both centre-backs.
Even without understanding every word, Azim could see the frustration in their movements.
The goal had not simply put Liverpool ahead.
It had forced Rubin to question their build-up.
That mattered more than the score.
Azim jogged into position.
The match had only just begun.
And now Rubin had to make a decision: continue playing through the defence, or abandon part of their plan because the young striker at the front of Liverpool's press had made it dangerous.
Azim intended to make that decision as difficult as possible.
Rubin restarted more cautiously.
Their centre-backs spread wide, but the movements were less confident. Kvirkvelia checked toward the goalkeeper before playing forward, while Ozdoev dropped deeper to offer an additional passing option.
Azim noticed the adjustment.
"Roberto," he called.
Firmino glanced toward him.
"They're dropping the midfielder."
"I see him."
"Close the inside pass. I'll show the centre-back outside."
Firmino gave a brief nod.
The ball travelled toward Kambolov.
Azim began pressing, his run angled to discourage the pass into Ozdoev. Firmino positioned himself beyond Azim's shoulder, keeping the midfielder inside his cover shadow.
Kambolov looked for a direct route forward.
There was none.
He sent the ball toward the left-back instead.
Coutinho narrowed his position as Nabiullin received it, while Moreno moved forward behind him to contest the space near the touchline.
The fullback attempted to play down the line.
Moreno got there first, redirecting the ball toward Milner.
Liverpool recovered possession.
Milner immediately looked forward, but Rubin's defensive line had retreated quickly enough to deny a clear pass behind them. Rather than force the attack, he played into Can, who switched possession toward Coutinho.
The Brazilian carried the ball inside.
Azim dropped off the centre-backs, offering himself between the lines.
Coutinho found him.
Azim received on his back foot, turned slightly, and laid the ball into Firmino's path. The Brazilian tried to combine with Lallana, but Rubin's midfielder anticipated the return pass and intercepted.
The counterattack was on.
Carlos Eduardo received the ball and attempted to turn.
Azim immediately changed direction.
He did not lunge at the midfielder. Instead, he approached from behind and to the side, taking away the forward turn while making it difficult for Eduardo to play a clean pass into Dević.
Eduardo glanced over his shoulder.
"Сзади! Сзади!"
(Behind you! Behind you!)
He attempted to play the ball toward the right.
But the pass was hurried.
Can stepped across and intercepted it.
The Russian midfielder turned sharply as Liverpool regained possession, but the moment had already passed. Can brought the ball under control and passed into Milner, who had remained behind the press to provide a secure outlet.
Liverpool could attack again.
Azim immediately moved forward.
The first goal had drawn attention to his finishing, but the second phase of the match was revealing something else. He was prepared to drop away from the penalty area, pressure the ball, help recover possession and then return toward goal as soon as Liverpool could play forward.
He was playing the false nine role in both directions.
When Liverpool had the ball, he linked the attack.
When Rubin had it, he disrupted their starting point.
And when possession changed hands, he was already moving.
Klopp watched the sequence from the touchline.
"Good, Abdul! Good! Keep the angle!"
The manager did not ask him to sprint at every player. He wanted Azim to recognise the moment when an opponent's body position, touch or passing options became vulnerable.
That was where the press could be most effective.
Azim was learning how to make his movement count.
He could feel the effort building in his legs, but his attention remained fixed on the spaces around him. Every time Rubin received the ball, he scanned the nearest options. Every time a pass moved into midfield, he judged whether he could challenge directly or whether he should force the receiver toward another Liverpool player.
It was exhausting.
But the results were visible.
Rubin could not easily turn toward Liverpool's goal. Their central passes were increasingly risky, while their fullbacks were being pushed toward the touchlines and away from the spaces they wanted to attack.
They were still capable of escaping.
They were still capable of creating chances.
But Liverpool were making them work for every metre.
And for now, that was enough.
By the eighteenth minute, Rubin had begun losing patience.
Kuzmin received the ball near the left touchline and tried to advance beyond Moreno. The Liverpool fullback stepped forward, forcing Kuzmin to turn away from goal. Azim moved across to close the inside passing lane, leaving the Russian captain with fewer options.
Kuzmin tried to push the ball past Moreno.
Moreno reached it first.
The two players collided as they contested possession, and the referee blew for a foul.
Moreno remained on the grass for a moment, rubbing his shin.
Kuzmin spread his arms in protest.
"What? I got the ball!"
The referee was unmoved.
He reached into his pocket and showed the Russian defender a yellow card.
Azim watched from a few metres away.
Kuzmin was now playing under a warning.
That did not mean Liverpool should target him recklessly, but it created another detail they could exploit. A defender who had already been booked had to consider the consequences of mistiming a challenge. The more isolated he became against an attacker, the more difficult his decisions would be.
Azim glanced toward Lallana.
The Englishman understood immediately.
They would not need to provoke a foul. They simply had to make Kuzmin defend difficult situations and force him to choose between allowing the attack to continue or risking another mistimed challenge.
Lallana smiled faintly.
"Let's keep him busy."
Azim nodded.
"Make him turn."
Rubin's captain returned to position, still arguing with the referee.
The match resumed.
Liverpool's second goal came from a situation that looked harmless until everything changed.
Rubin had managed to retain possession in midfield. Carlos Eduardo moved toward the ball as Georgiev passed forward, offering himself between Liverpool's double pivot and the attacking line.
Milner recognised the danger.
He stepped forward.
Eduardo received with his body angled toward the left, hoping to use his first touch to turn away from Milner's pressure. But Milner had read the movement. He closed the inside route, kept his feet under him and forced Eduardo to protect the ball rather than turn.
"Turn! Turn!" Eduardo shouted toward Georgiev.
But Milner was already there.
The Liverpool captain pressed close enough to prevent an easy pass forward without committing himself to a reckless tackle. Eduardo tried to drag the ball across his body.
Milner's foot reached it first.
The ball deflected loose.
Can moved forward and won it cleanly.
The change of possession was immediate.
Can looked up.
There were only a handful of Liverpool players ahead of him, but that was enough. Azim had dropped into the left half-space. Firmino was free centrally, while Lallana had begun sprinting into the space beyond Rubin's defensive line on the right.
Coutinho advanced from the opposite side, ready to join if the attack developed.
The fullbacks remained deeper.
Milner held his position behind the play, maintaining the security Liverpool needed if the counterattack broke down.
Can passed forward to Firmino.
The Brazilian received in space, facing the opposition goal.
A Rubin midfielder began closing him from behind, but Firmino had already scanned the field. Instead of taking an extra touch, he redirected the ball immediately toward Azim on the left.
The pass arrived at Azim's right foot.
He controlled it.
Then he saw Lallana.
The Englishman was sprinting into the right channel, moving beyond Nabiullin's shoulder. The left-back had been drawn slightly inside by the counterattack, and his recovery run was now angled toward the centre rather than toward the touchline.
A lane had opened behind him.
Azim needed to release the ball quickly.
But the direct pass would be difficult. Kambolov was positioned to intercept a conventional through ball, while Kvirkvelia had begun shifting toward Lallana's run.
A normal pass might give either defender enough time to recover.
Azim's attention sharpened.
He saw the angle.
He saw the run.
He saw the space just beyond the centre-backs, where Lallana would arrive if he maintained his speed.
Azim turned his body slightly and lifted his right foot.
The ball sat beside him as he shaped to pass.
Then he struck it with the outside of his boot.
A trivela.
The contact sent the ball spinning diagonally across the pitch, curving away from the defenders before bending back into the space behind them. The pass travelled with startling pace, low enough to avoid the first challenge yet high enough to skip over a stretched leg.
Kvirkvelia turned.
Kambolov reacted a fraction later.
Both defenders were moving toward the ball's original line when the spin pulled it away from their reach.
For an instant, it looked as though Azim had sent the pass too far.
Lallana was sprinting hard, but the ball continued forward, carrying him toward the corner of the penalty area.
Azim concentrated again.
A subtle pull.
The ball lost just enough momentum to drop more gently into Lallana's path, arriving a stride ahead of him instead of racing toward the byline.
Lallana adjusted without breaking his run.
He collected it.
The Kop rose as he entered the box.
Kvirkvelia recovered toward the centre, while Kambolov turned to cover the space behind him. Ryzhikov rushed off his line, expecting Lallana to shoot across the goalkeeper or drive toward the near post.
Lallana shaped to strike.
The goalkeeper dropped his weight.
Kvirkvelia moved across to block.
At the last moment, Lallana cut the ball back across his body.
Ryzhikov committed to the wrong direction.
Kvirkvelia slid past the shooting lane.
The pass rolled behind both of them, travelling toward the middle of the penalty area.
Coutinho had arrived late.
He had not rushed forward before the pass was secured. He had followed the attack at a distance, remaining free while the defenders were focused on the ball and Lallana's direct run.
Now he was completely unmarked.
The Brazilian took one step and tapped the ball into the open goal.
LIVERPOOL 2–0 RUBIN KAZAN.
The stadium erupted.
Coutinho wheeled away, arms spread, laughing as Lallana sprinted after him. Firmino followed with a roar, and Can clenched his fists near the edge of the penalty area, celebrating the regain that had started everything.
Azim stood for half a second, watching the ball settle in the net.
Then he sprinted toward the corner flag.
He had not scored.
He had not even taken the final shot.
But the moment the ball left his foot, he had known the chance was real. He had felt the connection between the run, the passing angle and the space the defenders could no longer protect.
When Lallana cut the ball back, Azim had wanted the Englishman to shoot.
Instead, Lallana had recognised Coutinho arriving late and chosen the better option.
That decision had made the goal.
Azim caught up with them near the corner flag, laughing as Coutinho pulled him into the celebration.
"That pass!" Lallana shouted. "Where did that come from?"
Azim shrugged, trying to look casual.
"Good run."
"Good run?" Lallana stared at him. "You bent it through two centre-backs!"
Coutinho shook his head, still grinning.
"Give me that pass in training. I want to practise finishing those."
"You had the easy part."
Coutinho put a hand to his chest in mock offence.
"The easy part? The goalkeeper was right there!"
"You were unmarked."
"Exactly. Easy."
They laughed.
Behind them, the Liverpool supporters were still celebrating, the roar rising and falling like a wave across Anfield.
The commentary team had almost lost control of their excitement.
"That is extraordinary from Abdul Azim! Look at the pass! He sees Lallana's run before the defenders understand what's happening!"
"And the technique! Outside of the boot, tremendous spin, straight through the defensive line! I don't know what the goalkeeper is supposed to do with that!"
"Lallana still has work to do, but he shows wonderful composure. He takes the goalkeeper and the defender out of the move with one cutback, and Coutinho arrives to finish!"
The first commentator paused, still sounding astonished.
"Two goals for Liverpool, and Azim has had a hand in both. First he wins the ball and scores. Now he turns a transition into a clear-cut chance for his teammate. This is an extraordinary start to his Anfield career."
On the touchline, Klopp had turned toward Buvač.
The German was grinning so widely that his face looked almost transformed. He grabbed his assistant coach around the shoulders and pulled him into a brief, exuberant hug.
"I didn't know he could do that!" Klopp shouted.
Buvač laughed.
"Neither did I!"
"Note it down! We need to know how well he can pass!"
Buvač shook his head, still watching Azim jog back toward the centre circle.
"With both feet, it seems."
Klopp slapped his shoulder.
"Then we need to use him!"
He turned back toward the pitch, raising both arms and shouting for the team to remain concentrated.
"Good! Excellent! Now recover! Keep your shape!"
The excitement was unmistakable, but the instructions remained clear.
The goal had come from a coordinated regain, not from a player attempting something spectacular without support. Milner's pressure had forced Eduardo into a mistake. Can had collected the loose ball and found Firmino. Firmino had played the pass quickly, allowing Azim to face forward before Rubin's midfield could recover.
Lallana's run had then stretched the defensive line, and Coutinho had timed his arrival perfectly.
Every part of the move mattered.
And Azim was delighted that the ball had ended up at Coutinho's feet.
He loved scoring. The feeling of putting the ball into the net at Anfield was something he would remember for the rest of his life.
But seeing a teammate finish an attack he had helped create carried a different kind of satisfaction.
It meant the team was beginning to trust him.
It meant his movement could create chances for others.
And it meant he did not have to be the man taking the final shot every time.
As Liverpool returned to their positions, Azim glanced toward Klopp.
The manager gave him a sharp nod.
No long conversation was needed.
Azim understood the message.
Keep going.