World Cup 2018: 5 talking points as Russia beat Egypt

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Russia have all but secured their passage into the World Cup round of 16 with yet another resounding victory in Group A.

The hosts fended off Egypt’s challenge with a 3-1 win at the Zenit Arena. Despite Mohamed Salah’s return to the starting eleven, Egypt could not withstand Russia’s attacking pressure and succumbed to consecutive defeats. 

Golovin and company opened the scoring in the most bizarre of ways as Ahmed Fathi mistimed his clearance effort and hit the back of his own net.

Cheryshev doubled Russia’s lead with a neat finish, while Dzyuba made it three with his show of strength. Salah scored the consolation goal for Egypt but it proved to be too little too late to mount a comeback.

There’s a lot to discuss from this game which has almost given us our first knockout participant. So without further ado, let’s analyze Russia’s 3-1 win in further detail with the help of 5 key talking points.

Score: Russia 3-1 Egypt

Goalscorers: Russia – Ahmed Fathi (OG) 47′, Denis Cheryshev 59′, Artem Dzyuba 62′

Egypt – Mohamed Salah 73′

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#5 Defensive lapses cost Egypt the game

Egypt needed a strong start to have any chance of toppling the hosts. But the exact opposite happened as the entire Egyptian back line looked nervous from the word go and committed unnecessary mistakes.

In the first 15 minutes, Russia had a high number of chances due to Egypt’s loss of possession in a dangerous position. 

Though the Pharaohs gathered themselves around for the remainder of the first half, the defensive lapses continued in the second interval.

Mohamed El Shenawi’s unnecessary punch gave the ball to Aleksandr Golovin whose shot was untimely cleared by Fathi to score an embarrassing own goal. 

The second Russian goal came through some brilliant play from Mario Fernandes. But for the third, Russia went route one and hoofed a long ball onto the towering Artem Dzyuba.

Ahmed Hegazi lost the aerial duel against him, and the striker then beat another defender to score his second of the tournament. Better composure was expected from the Egyptian centre-backs against Dzyuba. 

#4 Russian attacking trio impress the most

After their exploits against Saudi Arabia, the onus was on the Russian attackers to guide their nation to another emphatic win over Egypt.

Aleksandr Golovin and Denis Cheryshev were the star performers against Saudi and the duo replicated their stunning form against the Egyptians. 

Golovin tormented the fullbacks and was given acres of space to surge ahead. He had a huge hand in the first goal.

Cheryshev scored yet again and is now the World Cup’s joint highest goalscorer alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. The former Real Madrid man was in the right place to score his third goal of the tournament. 

Meanwhile, special praise has to be reserved for Russian bulldozer Artem Dzyuba. After netting as a substitute against Saudi Arabia, Dzyuba was given the start against Egypt and he proved the decision right by dominating his opponents through his aerial strength.

Then when the big chance arrived, he showed his footballing prowess to beat a defender and score effortlessly with a side foot finish.

#3 Own goals galore at this World Cup

The 2018 World Cup is just six days old but we have already seen five own goals in this edition. It has already equaled the number of own goals conceded in the previous World Cup.

One more own goal will see the current edition equal the record for most own goals scored in a single edition – 6 in France 1998.

Ahmed Fathi’s cruel deflection off his knee became the fifth own goal of the 2018 World Cup. He also became the sixth captain in the history of the competition to score against his own side. 

#2 Mohamed Salah’s return to action

After missing the opening game against Uruguay, Mohamed Salah returned to the starting eleven for the Pharaohs. The Liverpool talisman finally made his return since that shoulder injury in the Champions League final.

Despite being out of action for two weeks, Salah looked lively from the get go, and was reflecting his killer instincts. But he could not receive the service that would have made him threaten the Russian defence for the entirety of the game. 

He came close with a curling effort right at the end of the first half but his shot went just wide. Salah was marked tightly by the former Chelsea man Yuri Zhirkov who stayed close to the forward.

Salah did score a penalty in the final quarter of the game but it wasn’t enough for the Egyptians to achieve a monumental comeback. 

#1 Russia defy expectations to virtually reach the knockout stages

Not many had given Russia much chance of qualifying from Group A at the expense of Egypt. After all they were the lowest ranked team coming into the competition. Stanislav Cherchesov’s men were also labelled as ‘the worst Russian team ever’ by the local media.

But a World Cup that has been full of surprises in its first week saved the best surprise for the home nation who are now on the verge of playing in the knockout stages. After two convincing wins, there is a chance that Russia may finish as the winners of Group A.

Russia scored 8 goals in two games and conceded just one. This is the best start ever by a host nation. Italy held this record until now for their feat in the 1934 World Cup where they conceded one more than this group of Russians.