World Cup 2018, Russia 5-0 Saudi Arabia: 3 key battles that decided the game

It looks like we might have underestimated just how bad Saudi Arabia are, as Russia blew their way past them 5-0 in the inaugural match of the WC 2018, held at the Luzhniki stadium.

Saudi Arabia were in it for the first 10 odd minutes, and once Gazinsky headed the first goal in, the difference between the two sides escalated to unimaginable levels, and was topped by 2 goals (1 from Cheryshev and 1 from Golovin) in injury-time to add insult to the Falcon's injury.

Considering the shambolic defense, it is hard to see the Saudi Arabian team getting any point in the group. On the other hand, 5 goals might be the difference between Russia finishing in the second place or the third, if they can hold Egypt in their match.

As usual, there were a few individual battles that went a long way in deciding the outcome of the fixture. Here's a look at 3 of them:

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#1 Aleksandr Golovin vs Mohammed Al-Burayk

Golovin was the best player on the pitch by a mile

Aleksandr Golovin was expected to be the star of the Russian team, and the youngster lived up to his enormous hype and was clearly the best player on the pitch. He got his name on everything - 2 assists, a free-kick goal and even a yellow card to go with it.

On the team sheet, Golovin might feature on the left, but he was everywhere on this night - he was on the right to retrieve the ball to set up Russia's second goal, he was in the box to cross the ball for Dzyuba's header, he was there to knock the ball past a hapless Al-Mayoof for the last kick of the game.

Golovin vs Al-Burayk - stats

Al-Burayk was as slow and as poor as the rest of his defensive backline and it will not be fair to point him out as the sole defender destroyed by Golovin. The 22-year-old ran circles around everyone on the Saudi team, and his value on the market might have just shot up by a couple of millions.

#2 Denis Cheryshev vs Osama Hawsawi

After coming on as a sub, Cheryshev had an extraordinary impact on the game

Denis Cheryshev only came on as a substitute after Dzagoev pulled his hamstring in the 24th minute, but he was the second-best player of the match after Golovin - and was even awarded the official man of the match for his performance.

After a mistake from the Saudi defense, Cheryshev got the ball at the edge of the box and when most would have hit it first time, he was clever enough to take a first touch. Then, with his second touch, he passed the defender and banged it into the top left corner with his left foot.

If the first goal was a beauty, the second was just a beast. After Akinfeev hoofed the ball upfield, and Dzyuba controlled it down with his head, Cheryshev collected it and banged it into the top right corner with the outside of his left foot.

Saudi Arabia's captain had his hands full for the night, as his team simply could not keep with the Russians. He was too slow on his own, but he put in a couple of tackles when possible. The major concern was the space they allowed for the Russians to exploit, which they were more than happy to.

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#3 Roman Zobnin vs Abdullah Otayf

Zobnin kept the Saudi midfield in

check,

while launching attacks of his own

In the battle of the defensive midfielders, it is not surprising that the Russian came out on top. The match was always going to be decided in midfield, and Zobnin controlled the game beautifully while Otayf failed to make an impact.

It was not Otayf's fault however, as he never had anyone making runs in the first place for him to release balls from the back. On the other hand, Zobnin always had players in front of him expectantly making runs in and around the opposition.

Zobnin vs Otayf - stats

Zobnin was also responsible for the second Russian goal when he collected Golovin's pass and chose to pass the ball to Cheryshev instead of simply going for the shot. It was thanks to Zobnin that Russia was not shaken by the initial onslaught (however slight it was), as he made key interceptions and counter plays with his passing.

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