World Cup qualifiers: Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko scored one and created another as Guus Hiddink's Russia recorded a straightforward 2-0 win over Azerbaijan in Moscow today.

The match was Hiddink's first in charge of Russia since combining the role with that of Chelsea manager, and his side did what was required of them against the Group Four minnows without ever really excelling.

Pavlyuchenko opened the scoring on 32 minutes when he curled home a free-kick which had been retaken after encroachment by an Azerbaijan defender.

And Russia wrapped things up with 20 minutes left as Pavlyuchenko slipped a ball through for Konstantin Zyryanov to rattle home the second goal.