Russia beat Macedonia 3-0 in a Euro 2008 Group E qualifier on Saturday
to stay on track for next year's finals.
Russia celebrate the opener / YuriKadobnov/GettyImages
For that the Russians had to thank their reserve goalkeeper
Vyacheslav Malafeyev, who saved a 70th-minute penalty from Igor Mitreski
to preserve a 1-0 lead just after replacing Vladimir Gabulov.
Gabulov was sent off in the 69th minute for a professional foul on Velice
Sumulikoski in his own penalty box.
Vasily Berezutsky put the home side ahead five minutes into the game,
slotting the ball in at the far post following Andrei Arshavin's free
kick.
Russia could easily have doubled their lead before the break but Vladimir
Bystrov missed an open goal from a tight angle in the 21st minute and
Macedonia keeper Petar Milosevski made a fine diving save to deny Dmitry
Sychev a few minutes later.
Sychev wasted another golden chance early in the second half, shooting
wide from five metres and Roman Pavlyuchenko hit tha post before Malafeyev's
heroics.
Russia captain Andrei Arshavin made it 2-0 with a great solo effort in
the 83rd minute and Sevilla striker Alexander Kerzhakov, a second-half
substitute, made sure of the win three minutes later.
Victory moved Russia top of the group with 18 points from eight matches,
a point ahead of England, who beat Israel 3-0, and Croatia, who were playing
Estonia in a later match on Saturday.
Russia coach Guus Hiddink said he was pleased with the outcome but added
his side were a bit lucky to escape unharmed.
'There's an unwritten law in football that says if you don't make the
score 2-0 or 3-0 before halftime, you're going to have problems,' the
Dutchman told a news conference.
'And we were almost punished with that penalty kick. Fortunately, Malafeyev
saved the game for us.'
,
7 September 2007
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