Russia stuns Portugal in World Cup qualifier to top group

MOSCOW: Zenit St. Petersburg forward Alexander Kerzhakov struck the decisive goal to earn Russia a hard-fought 1-0 win over Portugal and lift them to the top of 2014 World Cup qualifying Group F here yesterday.
Fabio Capello’s side, who were recording their first ever win over Portugal in the post-Soviet era, maintained their perfect record with nine points from three matches to go three points clear of Portugal.
Russia got off to a lively start, scoring when the match was just six minutes old through Kerzhakkov, who beat goalkeeper Rui Patricio with an unopposed shot from the edge of the box after seeing off the guests’ defense on a breakaway.
Portugal went on the attack searching for the equalizer and made Russian keeper Igor Akinfeyev the most overworked player on the wet synthetic pitch of Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium.
He was forced to perform a pair of impressive saves to deny dangerous shots by Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Alves.
The visitors were dominating the play, keeping Russia under constant pressure.
But Capello’s men defended stoutly against Portugal’s rare but nevertheless dangerous counter-attacks.
After the interval Portugal continued testing the hosts’ defense but Russia, spurred on by the 75,000 home crowd, played without making any major mistakes, stifling the visitors’ attacks.
Though Portugal had an obvious advantage in possession and looked dominant in general they failed to create any serious threat, while the Russians’ replies looked much more dangerous.
In the 66th minute halftime substitute Denis Glushakov had a chance to increase Russia’s lead but the midfielder’s low shot from the edge of the area was confidently stopped by Patricio.
In the 82nd minute the keeper parried a dangerous shot by forward Alexander Kokorin also from the edge of the box, with Roman Shirokov’s attempt on the rebound went too wide.
In the closing stages Portugal pinned the hosts back but to no avail as they failed to create any scoring chances.
On Tuesday Russia take on Azerbaijan while Portugal face Northern Ireland.