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Russia ease past Lichtenstein
Published: 05 September, 2009, 20:57
Russia’s Aleksandr Kerzhkov (R) races fot the ball with Franz-Joseph Vogt of Liechtenstein (Image from FIFA.com)
TAGS: Sport, Hiddink, Football
In World Cup qualifying, Russia had little problems with Group 4 longshot Liechtenstein, claiming a convincing 3-0 win in St. Petersburg.
The visitors struggled to leave their half of the field in the beginning of the match, which made the bored Russian defenders go and try their luck in offensive play.
Sergey Ignashevich’s header from close range went straight into Liechtenstein keeper Peter Jehle, before his CSKA Moscow partner Vasily Berezutski delivered a great shot to put Russian in front after 17 minutes. It was just his second goal for the national team.
The next goal was just a matter of time, and it came on a penalty kick. Tottenham’s Roman Pavlyuchenko scored after Igor Denisov was brought down in the box at 27 minutes.
Russia, playing without their stars Andrey Arshavin and Yury Zhirkov, got the third goal seconds before halftime. And again it was Pavlyuchenko from the 11-meter mark.
Guus Hiddink’s men came close a number of times in the second half, but failed to widen the score, and the game ended 3-0 for the home team.
The win closes the gap between Russia and Group 4 leaders Germany to just one point (19-18), with the teams facing each other in Moscow in October.
The next test for Hiddink’s men are Wales, whom they play away on Wednesday.
Azerbaijan 1-2 Finland
Finland visited Azerbaijan in another Group 4 game. Goals from Marjus Heikkenen and Petri Pasanen five minutes from time allowed Finland to save face after the hosts went in front after 49 minutes thanks to Elvin Mammadov.
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