CESC STARS AS SPANISH SINK RUSSIANS
Friday, June 27th, 2008 by Stuart Stratford
RUSSIA 0 - 3 SPAIN
EURO2008 SEMI-FINAL 2
Spain controlled and then crushed Guus Hiddink’s Russian Revolution to progress to the Final of Euro2008. The Russians were rarely allowed to get their flowing football moving as sweetly as in previous matches as the Spanish midfield and defence sought to cut off the supply lines to Pavlyuchenko and Arshavin. The victory came at a cost for David Villa as he was ruled out of Sunday’s meeting with Germany through what Luis Aragones described as a ‘leg muscle injury’.
The Spaniards opened the match more purposefully and Akinfeev was the busier of two goalkeepers, saving well from Torres with his feet in the early stages. Mobility was the key with Torres and Villa dragging the Russian defence out of position regularly, leaving spaces for Silva, Iniesta, Ramos and Capdevilla to exploit on the flanks.
Villa withdrew ten minutes before the interval with Cesc Fabregas coming on to change the complexion of the match. An additional body in midfield to stifle their opponents creativity, interchanging with Xavi, Silca and Iniesta to support Torres in attack.
Five minutes into the second half, the Spaniards made their deserved breakthrough. Iniesta made space on the left side of the area to drill the ball into the centre of the box where Xavi met its path with a crisp volley into the net. From there on, Russia were rarely able to get forward with any purpose as the Spanish snuffed out their breaks in midfield.
It was a matter of time before the second goal arrived and having prompted Torres, Fabregas did the same for Guiza. The Mallorquian forward made no mistake as Fabregas’ delightful flicked path was controlled and lobbed past the on-rushing Akinfeev to double Spain’s advantage. The icing on the cake came when Fabregas crossed from the left for Silva to deservedly apply the finishing touch with full-time and the Final of Euro2008 beckoning.
Tags: Euro2008, Football, Russia, Soccer, Spain
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