Russia kicked off the 2018 FIFA World Cup in style as they dominated and cruised to a huge 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow.
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The opening ceremony which consisted of some grand musical performances and had Spanish and Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas walk out and place the pure gold FIFA World Cup trophy on the podium before the 2018 World Cup kicked off.
Russia soon settled into the pace of things and started dominating play pressing high causing the Saudi defense to visibly struggle which was followed by three straight corner kicks for Russia along with a few shots that were blocked.
Finally, in the 12th minute Aleksandr Golovin made a beautiful floated cross into the box and Yury Gazinsky unmarked in the box headed it into goal to score the first goal of the 2018 World Cup.
Russia almost immediately doubled their lead as a shot took a deflection and floated towards the top corner, but Saudi keeper Al-Mayouf made a desperate lunge and clawed the ball away.
In the 24th minute the hosts were dealt a devastating blow when one of their best creative players Alan Dzagoev went down with a hamstring injury, which could cause problems for Russia in the long run if he is unable to play.
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Saudi Arabia had a significant opportunity from a free-kick from just outside the opposition box but the header was far off target. Russia continued on the front foot and in the 43rd minute broke into the Saudi box and the ball landed at the feet of Denis Cheryshev, who replaced Dzagoev, who hammered the ball past the goalkeeper to go from the bench to the scoreboard.
Half Time – Russia 2 – 0 Saudi Arabia
The second half started with Saudi Arabia managing to retain majority of the possession in the opening minutes.
However, once again it did not last long as Russia once again found their stride and went on the front foot causing a few scares for Saudi as they got close to scoring their third on more than one occasion.
Mohamed Al Sahlawi finally managed to get free from the Russian defense and got a shot off but it went wide.
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Russia continued to dominate past the hour mark and in the 71st minute Artem Dzyuba, who had come onto the field less than 60 seconds prior, got a perfect pass by Golovin and easily headed the ball past the keeper into the back of the net.
Following Russia’s third, play was fairly even with both teams having even possession though Saudi still looked unable to do anything with the possession as they failed to even trouble the Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.
Surprisingly it took until the 88th minute for the first yellow card of the match to be shown as Aleksandr Golovin, the man who provided two assists was booked.
In injury time Denis Cheryshev got the ball on the turn and with a brilliant outside foot finish found the top corner, giving the keeper no chance of making a save, to score his second goal.
In the 95th minute Russia was awarded a free-kick just outside the opposition box. To add insult to injury of the Saudi fans and players Aleksandr Golovin beautifully struck it directly into the back of the net to make it 5-0 while Saudi Arabia did not have a single shot on target.
Full Time – Russia 5 – 0 Saudi Arabia
Man of the Match – Denis Cheryshev
Goal Scorers
Russia – Yury Gazinsky 12’, Denis Cheryshev 43’ & 90+1’, Artem Dzyuba 71’, Aleksandr Golovin 90+4’
Bookings
Yellow Cards
Russia – Aleksandr Golovin 88’
Saudi Arabia – Taiseer Al Jassam 90+3’
