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Russia to World Cup Quarterfinals After Defeating Spain in Penalties

By Alex Zatarain
AFP KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV

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Russia, the lowest ranked team in the FIFA rankings who many expected to miss out on the knockout rounds, are now heading to the quarterfinals. A match completely controlled by Spain, Russia pushed back and sent the game to penalties and eventually won.

After firing their coach hours before kickoff of the 2018 World Cup, Spain seemed to miss the finishing touch many expect after a plethora of passes in their Tiki-Taka approach.

First Half

Spain got off to a good start, dominating possession and opening the pitch up with their passes.

It didn’t take long for La Furia Roja to break through. A free kick swung in from the right side by Marco Asensio found a falling Sergio Ramos at the back post. As Ramos fell, Russian defender Sergey Ignashevich fell with him with his back to the ball, which took a rebound off his leg and into the goal for the own goal in the 12th minute.

Spain would continue ball possession but found it increasingly difficult to score again in the first half. However, the defense returned the favor for Russia, having their defense close shots at goal and end attacks early.

Russia’s first brush with a potential goal came in the 36th minute as Aleksandr Golovin tries to put  a left footed shot from the top of the box to the right post. The ball was a few feet wide from David De Gea’s goal but presented itself as the first opportunity to give the hosts confidence.

It was in the 40th minute when Russia would equalize, thanks to a handball by Gerard Pique to concede a penalty. Artem Dzyuba was called upon to convert and that he did, tying the game up in the 41st minute.

Diego Costa put two more shots on goal in added time but with no success.

At halftime, not only did Spain control possession, they triple Russia’s (137) with 426.

Second Half

The second half showed more clinical passing from the Spanish side, dominating with 854 passes total against Russia’s 227. Despite this, the latter half of the match had very little to show for itself.

Spain got off to a strong start, moving the ball up to the final third of the pitch. Jordi Alba was able to put a shot on the bottom right corner in the 47th minute. It ended up this shot would be the last on goal until much later.

Both sides completed their final substitutions by the 80th minute, hoping one would make the difference to avoid going into extra time.

Andres Iniesta put a shot on goal in the closing minutes of the second half, forcing a diving save from Igor Akinfeev in the 82nd minute. Iago Aspas followed it up with another shot from the right side of goal, sending it across the front of goal but with nobody there to finish.

Spain would keep pushing but with no success. Russia, with their limited possession, found it difficult to put shots together and failed to put a shot on goal in the second half. At this point, they had seven shots and one on goal in the whole match.

To no avail, neither side found the back of the net and they would head to extra time.

Extra Time

The thirty minutes needed in extra time matched the same theme from the rest of the match. Spain controlled possession and Russia with yet another extended period of time without a shot on goal.

Asensio had his shot saved in the bottom right corner in the 100th minute. Pique then had a header saved at the end of the first extra time.

Spain’s last gasp chance to avoid penalties came in the 121st minute, as Rodrigo Moreno’s shot from outside of the box was saved.

Penalties

I’ll let this speak for itself.

With Russia’s victory, they’ll now wait for the winner of Croatia and Denmark to decide their World Cup quarterfinals match-up.

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