RUS 0-0 IRL: Russian Frustration in Moscow

September 9th, 2011 | by: nick | Comments Off

Hello to all Russia fans. Forgive the lateness as this post comes during a busy week. Anyway, Russia had a frustrating time in Moscow as they were held to a 0-0 draw by the Republic of Ireland. Russia dominated the game but simply could not find the break through. Shay Given was the strong point while Ireland had no attacks and were almost completely on the back foot. The result keeps Russia in first place ahead of Ireland, Armenia, and Slovakia. Tuesday’s match was complimented with Armenia’s 4-0 triumph over Slovakia in Žilina.

Russia
Russia came into this game to gain three points and began very strongly by statistically dominating the game. Ireland were immediately on the defensive with repetitive Russian onslaughts on the Irish goal. Advocaat lined Russia up in a 4-2-3-1 formation similar to the one I predicted in my last post. The only differences were Aleksei Berezutski taking on the left back role and Zhirkov playing further up on the left wing. This formation worked really well and can be an explanation for Russia’s domination during most of the game. However the introduction of Bilyaletdinov proved to be a poor decision as he was completely ineffective on the left flank and missed several clear cut opportunities. In all other respects, the formation performed very well. Kerzhakov’s presence was more effective than I predicted as he was able to draw Irish defenders out of position and allow space for Semshov and Zyrianov to operate. Although a draw was not disastrous to the campaign, it increases the pressure ahead of the game against Slovakia.

Ireland
Ireland were very lucky to walk away with a draw. A point helps them to stay in contention for the top two places in the group especially since Slovakia gained no points against Armenia. The match put Ireland on the defensive as their forward line was given no room to operate nor were they able to mount any serious of threatening attack. Robbie Keane, Damien Duff, Kevin Doyle, and Aiden McGeady were closed down and spent most of their time defending. Shay Given deserves praise for making very good saves and blocks to keep the score at 0-0 despite not being match fit.

Russia will meet Slovakia on October 7 in Žilina while Ireland travel to Andorra on the same date.