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Scorers:10th Mins - Luis Suarez (URU), 23rd Mins - Dennis Cheryshev (O.G), 90th Mins Edinson Cavani
Two weeks into the WC 2018 and the enthusiasm levels in Russia seem to be rise. Reports of overexposure to football have been highly exaggerated to say the least, given some of the football that has been on the show for the past 12 days.
Aided by the fact that the host nation, Russia has also embraced a thrilling and exuberant style means the locals are being entertained while at the same time exalting a national flavour to it. But this was a rude wake-up call, to say the least.
Uruguay buoyed by Luis Suarez was in full flow and the result spoke for itself. Russia though has to buckle up if they want to go further in the tournament. That said, there were enough talking points to keep everyone entertained.
#1.Luis Suarez on target again
A smart free-kick led to the Uruguayan opening the score for his side as he arrowed into the bottom corner to the keeper’s left. Igor Afinkeev should be miffed with himself as he allowed himself to be beaten at his near post. The wall was taken out of play by the grounded free-kick but that shouldn’t have prevented the Russian keeper from covering his post.
That said, Suarez enjoyed the outing and taking it upon himself to torment the Russian defence. The striker burst the bubble of the euphoric Samara stadium which was hosting the Russian football team for the first time.
And the goal came after an error from Russia as they played a careless backward pass which left the defence on its heels thus leading to a desperate foul by Iury Gazinsky on Rodrigo Bentancurs. Finding the ball in the sweetest of positions, the Uruguayan did what he does best as he planted the ball into the Russian net.
#2 Will Stanislav Cherchesov stick or twist?
A comprehensive defeat for Russia in a game which was the first challenge in this World Cup doesn’t augur well for the manager and the team. Having scored eight goals in victories over Saudi Arabia and Egypt, they were already guaranteed to progress but once they shipped in the early goal, things only got worse.
A Diego Laxalt effort from 25 yards ricocheted off Denis Cheryshev leaving keeper Igor Akifneev desperately scrambling across his goal only to see the ball trickle in. Afinkeev despite having not made a save this tournament has already conceded three goals. The keeper though redeemed himself as the match progressed coming out to block and thwart Uruguayan attacks.
Desperate defending aside, Cherchesov will also have to deal with the absence of Igor Smolnikov who picked up a second yellow card and was sent off 35 minutes into his World Cup debut. A note must be taken of the fact that by then Russia had already conceded two goals. Their fragile performance will make them welcome opponents in the next round.
But then football rarely follows the script and Russia having realized the gig was up as early as the first half decided to stick to positions rather than chase and harass their opponents. However, this means for sure that Russia will now face their opposition at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium, where they had a much more rewarding performance against Saudi Arabia.
#3 Cavani’s goal a cause for celebration
Right at the end, Cavani finally got his reward as he pounced on a loose ball to turn it into the Russian goal and register his and Uruguay’s third goal for the night. It was an excellent team goal as a whipped corner reached the unmarked head of Diego Godin who directed it goalwards.
Akinfeev kept out the header but was unable to keep out Cavani who beat Suarez to the ball. The Paris St. Germain striker worked tirelessly and deserved a goal having had chances earlier to open his account.
That said Uruguay kept possession and used it well creating chances for Cavani who wrongfooted Sergey Ignashevich only to see him recover and deny him a goal.
Despite all the chances congratulations are in order for the goal scored as Cavani in the process, also became just the second player to score a goal in three separate World Cup tournaments for Uruguay (2010, 2014 and 2018) after his strike partner Luis Suarez.
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#4 Russia lacked dynamism
After eight goals in two matches, the atmosphere at the Samara stadium was expected to be a party atmosphere. The team though looked sluggish throughout and there was hardly any dynamism from the Russians. Whether the fact that they were missing their charismatic playmaker in the form of Aleksandr Golovin or if it was the stifling heat, one will never know.
But based on the evidence of the game, they will have to do much better. They did create chances with Artem Dzuba firing over the bar from inside the box and then Fedor Smelov, who shimmied his way beyond the Uruguay defence but failing to pick out a team-mate with his cross.
Understandably they weren’t aided by the fact that they were down to 10 men. Despite that their possession did improve towards the latter part of the game and one hopes that the Russians will show better resilience in their next tie.
#5 Uruguay looks menacing
At the end of the game Oscar Tabarez, the Uruguayan coach made a very honest assessment of the game stating that Russia hadn’t pushed his side as hard as he expected. He said he had expected his side to win by more goals.
Looking forward to the next round, Tabarez mentioned that his team would have to be more lethal in their finishing. While he was happy with the scoring it was the clean-sheet that brought a wide grin to his face.
This was the fifth time in World Cup history that Uruguay has finished top of their group and the last time they did so they went till the semi-finals i.e. 2010. Under Tabarez, Uruguay also became the first side since Argentina in 1998 to win all their group games without conceding a goal.
Be it Spain or Portugal as they will find out later, Uruguay knows they will have a much tougher task on their hands as they will not face such obliging opponents.
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