Published: 15 October, 2008, 17:20
Edited: 15 October, 2008, 17:20
Two own goals and a brilliant solo effort by Andrey Arshavin gave Russia a 3-0 victory over Finland in Moscow – their second win in the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. Guss Hiddink’s men have six points after three games and are increasingly
The hosts looked better throughout the first half. And the opener came on 23 minutes. Pavel Pogrebnyak was first on the rebound after a shot by Yury Zhirkov was saved. But Finnish defender Peti Pasanen stole the goal from the striker and put the ball into his own net, 1-0.
The situation on the field didn’t change much after the break. Russia continued to dominate the possession while the Finns relied on rare counter attacks. But they could only score into their own goal. Veli Lampi once again surprised his keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen on 53 minutes and made it 2-0.
Than it was time for some Arshavin magic. The Euro-2008 star’s dribbling left two Finnish defenders wondering and than the striker gave no chance to Jaaskelainen in a one-on-one duel.
The Finish defender also managed to touch the ball before it crossed the line but this time the goal was awarded to the Russian player. 3-0 it ended.
Germany and Wales are also in action in Group 4.