Euro 2012 News: Russia suffer shock defeat against Slovakia 1-0 - Part 2
The disappointment of the match was Andrei Arshavin’s performance. The world class striker could have brought out a better show. Just recently he did admit that playing for Arsenal had affected his mojo and he was feeling a bit down, he should recover from it if he ever wants his country to become a better footballing nation.
On another attempt to score Arshavin was tackled well by Zdenko Strba just outside the box and that avoided a penalty and therefore a chance to equalize. Still Dzagoev made a tremendous effort with the free kick which was countered by an excellent save from the Slovakian goal keeper.
This happened to be Slovakia’s second victory in Group B and now they are looking strong to enter the next level of the competition.
The line up of Russia was Igor Akinfeev, Sergei Ignashevich, Vasili Berezutsky, Aleksandr Aniukov, Yuri Zhirkov, Konstatin Zurianov, Igor Semshov, Roman Shirokov, Alan Dzagoev, Andrei Arshavin and Pavel Pogrebniak.
The line up of Slovakia was Jan Mucha, Radoslav Zabavnik, Martin Skrtel, Kornel Salata, Tomas Hubocan, Zdeno Strba, Miroslav Karhan, Marek Hamsik, Miroslav Stoch, Juraj Kucka and Filip Holosko.
The substitution options for Russia were Vladimir Gabulov, Alexei Berezutsky, Denis Kolodin, Dmitri Torbinsky, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Vladimir Bystrov and Roman Pavlyuchenko.
The substitution options for Slovakia were Dusan Pernis, Peter Pekarik, Marek Sapara, Vladimir Weiss, Mario Pecalka, Robert Vittek and Erik Jendrisek.
The substitutions made by Russia were Vladimir Bystrov for Igor Semshov in the 61st minute followed by Roman Pavlyuchenko for Pavel Pogrebniak in the 71st. minute. Their last substitution was that of Diniyar Bilyaletdinov for Sergei Ignashevich in the 81st minute.
The substitutions made by Slovakia were Erik Jendrisek for Juraj Kucka in the 58th minute and Marek Sapara for Miroslav Karhan in 73rd minute. Their last substitution was that of Mario Pecalka for Miroslav Stoch in the 90th minute.
There was one yellow card given by referee Frank De Bleeckere to each team and they were Yuri Zhirkov in the 33rd minute and Juraj Kucka in the 38th minute.
The shots taken by Russia were 14 out of which 6 were on target while Slovakia took 8 shots and only half of them were on target. This certainly showed that the Russians were applying an offensive approach but the sturdy Slovakian defence proved to be a tough mountain to conquer. This also shows that far too many shots were blocked or blown away by a strong defensive performance. Slovakia on the other hand represented a weaker attack but nonetheless it was covered by their defence and defensive midfield dominance.
The fouls committed by Russia were 6, but in comparison to that, Slovakia had twice as many. They tallied a total of 15 fouls which clearly depicted that they were a strong defensive team that had gone to defend their lone goal against Russia.
Russia won a total of 8 corners which clearly pictures the number of attacks the Russian would have plotted. Slovakia however had managed just 2 corners. This too represented that the offence from the guests was weak and they needed to focus more on it. These reckonings were put forth again by 2 off sides by Russia while just a one from Slovakia.
Also the possession of the ball was shared by both teams by equally, however it can be stated that Russia were the team that proved to be more fruitful with the ball. In the end, their defeat only came because of a mediocre and novice mistake. Another interesting feature of the match is that the Russian goal keeper made 3 saves while the Slovakian goal keeper made 7 saves.
Tags: