Russia struck a goal rush in the opening match of the 2018 World Cup final defeating Saudi Arabia 5-0 at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Friday morning.
Two goals to first half sub Denis Cheryshev and singles to Yury Gazinsky, Artem Dzyuba, and Aleksandr Golovin, gave the host nation a dream beginning to what home fans hope will be a deep run into the tournament.
Although the Russians, who were the lowest ranked of the 32 nations in the tournament, were favourites going into the game, few could have predicted such a flood of goals from them.
Playing in a direct style in contrast to the Saudi’s short, sharp passing game, the Russians fed off Saudi turnovers and were able to frequently penetrate a Saudi defence which proved vulnerable to the swift direct Russian counterattacks.
Winger Golovin crossed early from the left flank to find the head of midfielder Gazinsky for the opening goal of the game in the 12th minute.
The Saudis had the lion’s share of possession but struggled to penetrate and find their forwards against a disciplined Russian team who defended en masse in their own half, pressed with intensity once the Saudis moved the ball over the halfway line, forcing errors from the Saudis.
Russia suffered an early blow when it lost star midfield playmaker Alan Dzagoev to a hamstring injury, however his replacement winger Cheryshev made a telling difference just before half-time by doubling Russia’s lead with a composed finish after a swift Russian counterattack stretched the Saudi defence.
Another Russian sub, Dzubya headed home a third goal in the 72nd minute from another excellent Golovin cross to put the match beyond the Saudi’s reach. Russia then completed the route scoring two memorable goals in injury time. The first came from the outside of Cheryshev’s left boot, while the second came directly from a Golovin free kick which flew over the Saudi wall and inside the near post. The two late goals were just reward for the two Russian wingers for outstanding matches.
Afterwards, Russian coach Stanislav Cherchesov, whose coaching was the subject of criticism going into the game, commented, “We are not trying to silence anyone, we are just doing our work.
“It’s just the beginning. We won 5-0 and we got three points. However, we could have played out a 1-1 [draw], nothing would have changed.
“This is a tournament, we need to get points and qualify from the group.”
He acknowledged their Confederations Cup experience last year when they won the first game 2-0, but says it didn’t get them very far.
“I know the players gave 100 per cent and we saw the proof that they are on the right track. We need to turn the page and focus on the next step.”
The only blight on the win was Dzagoev’s injury, which could force him out of the tournament.
“We don’t know the complete picture,” said Cherchesov. “He was in severe pain and he couldn’t keep running. From experience he could be out of the tournament … We’d be very sad to lose the player, we don’t have many players of this level, he would be a big loss.”
