Dzhikia magic sends Russia top of Group H

Slovenia 1-2 Russia
2022 World Cup qualifiers, Group H
Monday 11 October, Stadion Ljudski vrt, Maribor

Goals: Slovenia - Ilicic 40’; Russia - Diveev 28’, Dzhikia 32’

Igor Diveev rose between two defenders to glance home a dangerous whipped inswinging free kick from Daniil Fomin. It was just reward for an enterprising start to the game in which Valery Karpin’s men had earned the best chances.

Not to be outdone by his defensive partner, Georgi Dzhikia pulled a spectacular improvised finish just four minutes later. A near-post corner was messily cleared by the hosts, bouncing awkwardly behind Dzhikia with his back to goal; no problem for the Spartak man though, who simply contorted his body to hook a remarkable overhead kick into the top corner.

After the blistering start, Slovenia hit back five minutes before the break through a well-worked goal from Josip Ilicic. Aleksey Miranchuk’s Atalanta club teammate side-footed a delightful finish through a host of bodies to halve Russia’s lead.

After the break the match took on a more combative character, and although Slovenia had a Jasmin Kurtic header disallowed for offside, Russia held firm for a vital win.

Slovenia drop to fourth on 10 points, while Russia go top on 19 points.

Next World Cup qualifiers: 11 November - Russia vs Cyprus; Slovakia vs Slovenia