Russia have all but secured their passage into the World Cup round of 16 with yet another resounding victory in Group A. The hosts fended off Egypt’s challenge with a 3-1 win at the Zenit Arena. Despite Mohamed Salah’s return to the starting eleven, Egypt could not withstand Russia’s attacking pressure and succumbed to consecutive defeats.
Golovin and company opened the scoring in the most bizarre of ways as Ahmed Fathi mistimed his clearance effort and hit the back of his own net. Cheryshev doubled Russia’s lead with a neat finish, while Dzyuba made it three with his show of strength. Salah scored the consolation goal for Egypt but it proved to be too little too late to mount a comeback.
There’s a lot to discuss from this game which has almost given us our first knockout participant. So without further ado, let’s analyze Russia’s 3-1 win in further detail with the help of 5 key talking points.
Score: Russia 3-1 Egypt
Goalscorers: Russia – Ahmed Fathi (OG) 47′, Denis Cheryshev 59′, Artem Dzyuba 62′
Egypt – Mohamed Salah 73′
5 Defensive lapses cost Egypt the game
4 Russian attacking trio impress the most
3 Own goals galore at this World Cup
2 Mohamed Salah’s return to action
1 Russia defy expectations to virtually reach the knockout stages