St. Petersburg, June 16, 2021 – After the knockout against the Belgium, the Russia raises his head and finds his first fundamental victory in this European Championship: it is the one who pays the price Finland that after the debut triumph against the Denmark is forced to raise the white flag because of the goal of Miranchuk arrived in injury time of the first half.
First half
Russia immediately starts strong, dragged by its forwards, but the first big opportunity happens on the feet of Northern fire defused only by the referee’s whistle signaling an offside. There Finland tries to organize his offensive maneuver relying on the freshness of his number 20, but in the end they are always the boys of Cherchesov to win and find the most important chances with Dzyuba. The game is played a lot on a physical level, but at the end of the first half it is a beautiful technical gesture by Aleksey Miranchuk: the Atalanta player in the 47th minute starts a left from the edge of the area that draws a perfect trajectory and mocked the opposing goalkeeper.
Second half
With Miranchuk’s prowess, Russia tries to manage the recovery without taking too many risks. Finland tries to be proactive by relying on Pukki, a bit opaque in the first part of the game, but does not find any important opportunity to try to reach a draw. Only in the final minutes did the captain Arajuuri look for a header following a free kick, but the attempt ended out of the door to the delight of the Russian national team who can celebrate their first triumph in this tournament, which came thanks to a splendid play by one of his best footballers.
The match report:
FINLAND (3-5-2): Hradecky; Toivio (39 ‘st Jensen), Arajuuri, O’Shaughnessy; Raitala (30 ‘st Soiri), Schuller (22’ st Kauko), Lod, Kamara, Uronen; Pukki (30 ‘st Lappalainen), Pohjanpalo. In panchina: Joronen, Jaakkola, Vaisanen, Sparv, Alho, Valakari, Ivanov, Forss. Allenator: Heather.
RUSSIA (4-3-3): Safonov; Mario Fernandes (26 ‘pt Karavaev), Diveev, Dzhikiya, Kuzyaev; Zobnin, Barinov, Ozdoev (16 ‘st Zhemaletdinov); Miranchuk (40 ‘st Mukhin), Dzyuba (40’ st Sobolev), Golovin. In panchina: Shunin, Dyupin, Semenov, Cheryshev, Zabolotny, Fomin, Evgenyev, Makarov. Allenatore: Cherchesov.
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Olanda).
Marker: 47 ‘pt Miranchuk.
Note: yellow cards: Kamara, O’Shaughnessy, Barinov, Ozdoev, Dzhikiya. Corners: 1-4. Recovery: 6 ‘pt, 7’ st.
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