Euro 2008 Qualification: Russia vs. England

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

October 17, 2007
19:00 (UTC+2)
Russia 2–1 England Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow
Attendance: 84,700
Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo
V. Berezutski Booked after 14 minutes 14'
V. Berezutski Substituted off after 46 minutes 46'
Torbinskiy Substituted on after 46 minutes 46'
Kerzhakov Substituted off after 58 minutes 58'
Pavlyuchenko Substituted on after 58 minutes 58'
Pavlyuchenko Scored after 69 minutes 69' (1)
Pavlyuchenko Scored after 73 minutes 73' (2)
Pavlyuchenko Booked after 75 minutes 75'
Arshavin Substituted off after 90 minutes 90'
Kolodin Substituted on after 90 minutes 90'
Match report Scored after 29 minutes 29' (2)Rooney
Booked after 57 minutes 57' Ferdinand
Booked after 68 minutes 68' Rooney
Substituted off after 79 minutes 79' Lescott
Substituted on after 79 minutes 79' Lampard
Substituted off after 80 minutes 80' Wright-Phillips
Substituted off after 80 minutes 80' J. Cole
Substituted on after 80 minutes 80' Downing
Substituted on after 80 minutes 80' Crouch

England's qualification for UEFA Euro 2008 is in doubt after a 2-1 defeat to Russia.

Roman Pavlyuchenko scored two goals in the second half today, although both sides had their chances.

Russia had a penalty appeal turned down by the Spanish referee after eleven minutes, while Konstantin Zyrianov saw his drive pushed onto the goalposts by England's goalkeeper Paul Robinson. Needing to win on an artificial pitch in Moscow to be certain of qualification, England took the lead after 29 minutes when Wayne Rooney opened the scoring with a volley.

Both Steven Gerrard and Micah Richards missed chances to seal victory for England, and Russia equalised with a Roman Pavlyuchenko penalty after Wayne Rooney brought down Konstantin Zyrianov. England manager Steve McClaren said the penalty shot was a 'disgraceful' decision, as the offence appeared to have happened just outside the penalty area. Pavlyuchenko scored Russia's winner just four minutes later.

England have one match remaining against Group E leaders Croatia on November 21, but the defeat to Russia means that other results must go their way if they are to qualify for next year's tournament in Austria and Switzerland. Russia will qualify ahead of England if they defeat both Israel and Andorra in their final two matches.

Sources