Russia have virtually qualified for the Last 16 of the World Cup on home soil, with a 3-1 win over Egypt in St Petersburg.

The hosts had started with a comprehensive 5-0 over Saudi Arabia, but Egypt’s talisman Mohamed Salah returned for the second game of Group A.

Russia managed to keep the Liverpool star quiet for the first half though, save for a shot on the turn which flashed wide of Igor Akinfeev’s post.

After a cagey first period, the home side took the lead on 47 minutes, though there was more than an element of fortune about it.

Russia have virtually qualified for the Last 16 of the World Cup on home soil, with a 3-1 win over Egypt in St Petersburg.

The hosts had started with a comprehensive 5-0 over Saudi Arabia, but Egypt’s talisman Mohamed Salah returned for the second game of Group A.

Russia managed to keep the Liverpool star quiet for the first half though, save for a shot on the turn which flashed wide of Igor Akinfeev’s post.

After a cagey first period, the home side took the lead on 47 minutes, though there was more than an element of fortune about it.

Juventus target Aleksandr Golovin’s shot was heading well wide, but looked to be heading toward Artem Dzyuba.

Ahmed Faty muscled the striker out of the way, but in doing so the ball came off his shin and ended up in the back of the net.

It was 2-0 just before the hour mark, with Mario Fernandes cutting back for Denis Cheryshev to sidefoot home from seven yards.

Egypt were rocking, and they conceded a third only minutes later.

A hopeful long ball toward Dzyuba was brilliantly taken down by the big striker, and he made no mistake with his right-footed finish.

Salah did get his moment when VAR ruled that he’d been fouled in the area, with the former Roma man confidently converting the penalty.

It was too little too late for the African side though, and Russia essentially booked their place in the second round.

Russia 3-1 Egypt

Fathy OG 47 (R) Cheryshev 59 (R) Dzyuba 62 (R) Salah pen 73 (E)

Russia: Akinfeev; Fernandes, Kutepov, Ignashevich, Zhirkov (Kudryashov, 86); Gazinskiy, Zobnin; Samedov, Golovin, Cheryshev (Kuzyayev, 74); Dzyuba (Smolov, 79)

Egypt: El Shenawy; Fathi, Hegazi, Gabr, Shafy; Elneny (Warda, 64), Hamed; Salah, El-Said, Trezeguet (Sobhi, 68); Mohsen (Kahraba, 82)

Bygaby

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector