RUS 2-1 SVN: Slovenia scrap late goal

November 18th, 2009 | by: Nick | Comments(2)

Hello to all Russia fans. As we all saw on Saturday, Slovenia were able to scrap a late goal to give them the valuable away goal. I will just briefly provide my view on the match.

Russia
Russia, in my opinion played well for a home side but could have preserved the two goal lead. I think that the fullbacks Zhirkov and Anyukov did not play their best game. I felt they did not cover the flanks well enough. Anyukov’s performance was dismal when he failed to cover the cross that led to Slovenia’s goal. The midfield operated superbly and Dinyar Bilyaletdinov certainly deserves an applause for his two goals. Up front I think Pavlyuchenko lacked a lot of firepower. Sychev or Pogrebnyak may have been more appropriate choices.

Slovenia
Slovenia played much stronger than I expected especially in the second half. In the first half Slovenia’s defense was a bit disorganized which allowed Russia to score. The midfield and forward lines did not get the ball forward enough to cause major problems for Russia. In the second half Slovenia came out with much improved form but still lacked the ability to get the ball forward and service the strikers. However, Nejc Pečnik headed in after the ball deflected off Igor Akinfeev.

Thats all I have to say for now. Enjoy the second playoff leg in Maribor, Slovenia.