Denis Cheryshev scores twice to seal biggest victory by host nation in opening game for 84 years
Friday 15 June 2018 09:41, UK
World Cup hosts Russia kicked off their Group A campaign in style with a 5-0 win over Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
No host team has lost a World Cup opening match and Russia kept up that tradition with goals from Yury Gazinsky (12), Denis Cheryshev (43, 90+1), Artem Dzyuba (71) and Aleksandr Golovin (90+3).
It leaves Stanislav Cherchesov's men with confidence ahead of testing fixtures against Egypt and Uruguay as they aim to uphold the record of hosts at major international tournaments - 20 of 21 host teams have progressed from their group.
For Saudi Arabia, there was not much to cling to as they looked very lightweight and tactically naive - it could be a long few weeks for The Green Falcons, who did not register a shot on target.
After an opening ceremony with Robbie Williams, it was Russia that heeded his words and entertained the home crowd.
Golovin recycled a half-cleared corner on 12 minutes and curled a clever ball towards the back post. There were three Russians waiting against Yasser Al-Shahrani, and Gazinskiy had the simple task of heading home for his first international goal.
Alan Dzagoev then hobbled off with what looked like a hamstring injury - but his replacement took his opportunity with both hands. Cheryshev showed sublime awareness just before the break to flick the ball over his marker, who slid in recklessly, and rifled home into the net.
Saudi Arabia looked devoid of belief the longer the match went on and Roman Zobnin conjured up Russia's third goal.
Zobnin found space just outside the area and his delivery was headed home by another substitute Dzyuba, who had only been on the pitch 90 seconds.
Russia sensed the opportunity to boost their goal difference and scored two more in added time as the visitors wilted.
Cheryshev popped up with another moment of magic - this time with the outside of his left boot - while Golovin curled in a free-kick from 25 yards.
The Russian winger showed why he was once on the books of Real Madrid with a performance dripping in quality. After being called from the bench following Alan Dzagoev's hamstring injury, the Villarreal man showed impeccable awareness and clinical finishing to fire Russia into a 2-0 lead before bending home a sumptuous second late on.
Cheryshev: "There are no words to express what I'm feeling right now. I'm happy we won and happy I could help my team," said Cheryshev.
"I could never have dreamed of anything like this. I felt very happy when I knew I would be here in the squad but I never dreamed of anything like this."
Saudi Arabia coach Juan Antonio Pizzi: "The opposing team really didn't have to make a huge effort to win this game.
"We have now to forget this feeling of shame and start thinking about the next match."
Elsewhere in Group A, Egypt take on Uruguay on Friday at 1pm. Up next for Russia is Egypt on June 19 at 7pm while Saudi Arabia need to avoid defeat against Uruguay on June 20 to keep their World Cup bid alive.
