Uruguay teach Russia a lesson
GROUP A: SOUTH AMERICANS FINISH TOP, HOSTS SECOND
Saudi Arabia see off Egypt in hard-fought dead rubber.
Uruguay burnished their World Cup credentials with a 3-0 victory over 10-man Russia yesterday, finishing top of Group A with a perfect record while dampening the hopes of the tournament hosts, who had to settle for second.
Luis Suarez grabbed his second goal of the tournament to open Uruguay’s account with a free kick after 10 minutes and they doubled the lead with an own goal from Russia’s Denis Cheryshev soon after.
That silenced a vociferous home crowd who had been in party mode after Russia’s opening two victories and were not expecting their final group contest to be effectively ended in the 36th minute when Igor Smolnikov was sent off for a second booking.
Edinson Cavani bundled home a third goal for Uruguay at the death to wrap up their thirdstraight victory, ensuring they finished above the Russians, who will now have to face the winners of Group B in the last 16.
Uruguay kept their sixthstraight clean sheet.
While Russia had confounded those who predicted a groupstage exit with resounding victories over Saudi Arabia and Egypt, there was still a question mark over how they would perform when they faced stronger opposition.
Smolnikov’s sending off may have ended Russia’s hopes but in truth the encounter had already swung decisively against them by that point.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia managed their first win by beating Egypt 2-1 with a last-gasp winner that eclipsed Egyptian talisman Mohamed Salah’s 22nd-minute goal in a game between the two eliminated teams.
Saudi Arabia finished third in the group standings, scoring their only goals of the tournament and vastly improving from the 5-0 thrashing by hosts Russia in their opening game.
It was a bitter disappointment for the Egyptian side, however, with Liverpool striker Salah unable to prevent three consecutive defeats for his country.
Egyptian keeper Essam El-Hadary became the oldest player to date to appear at a World Cup at 45 years old.