Rampant Russia run riot to pile pressure on Croatia

Russia 6-0 Cyprus
2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Group H
Thursday 11 November, Gazprom Arena

Goals: Russia - Erokhin 4’, 87’, Smolov 55’, Mostovoy 56’, Sutromin 62’, Zabolotny 77’

Aleksandr Erokhin set Russia up for the perfect start after just four minutes in his home ground with the simplest of goals. Aleksey Sutormin drilled a low cross from the right towards Fedor Smolov, and although the Lokomotiv forward miskicked his first attempt, the defence couldn’t clear it properly.

His second attempt was sent straight back across to a grateful Erokhin waiting completely unmarked a few yards out to tap in.

Cyprus didn’t completely sit back - Igor Diveev, Maksim Osipenko and Aleksandr Golovin all went to ground to desperately stop one dangerous attempt, while 16 had a near-post header turned around the corner by a sprawling Matvey Safonov on first-half added time - but the majority of play was controlled by the hosts. Andrey Mostovoy had the best chance just before the header, but his one-on-one effort was blocked.

After the break though, the floodgates opened in a seven-minute three-goal blitz. First, Aleksey Miranchuk was lightning quick to steal possession of a defender before racing clear with only one challenger. His awareness allowed him to pick out Smolov in acres of space completely unmarked to his left, and the simplest of touches teed up the forward to cut inside and roll home a straight-forward finish. 

Aleksandr Golovin - captain for the day - then set up Mostovoy barely a minute later. The Zenit forward nonchalantly danced his way through a small crowd of defenders for a delightful individual strike. Sutormin was rewarded for his pre-assist for the opener when he capitalised on some atrocious defending to nod home into an almost unguarded net. 

Substitute Anton Zabolotny had toiled admirably with a few near-chances, but got in on the act with less than 10 minutes remaining, dragging a low shot across goal into the bottom left corner after patiently searching for a gap to pull the trigger.

Erokhin added a sixth in the closing stages after a clever looped ball over the defence from Zabolotny, leaving the Zenit midfielder a tight angle - no matter, as he unleashed a scissor kick finish to complete the rout.

Russia remain top of the group on 22 points, while Cyprus stay bottom on five points.

Next World Cup qualifiers: Sunday 14 November - Croatia vs Russia; Slovenia vs Cyprus