Alan Dzagoev scored a goal in each half as Russia produced an impressive attacking display to beat the Czech Republic 4-1 in Group A of Euro 2012 at Wrocław on Friday.
The Russians opened the scoring just before the quarter of an hour mark when Dzagoev was on hand to knock in a loose ball after Konstantin Zyryanov's cross was headed against the post by Aleksandr Kerzhakov.
Midway through the first half, Andrei Arshavin seized on a loose ball and split open the defense with a brilliant pass across the area, which was met by Roman Shirokov to chip over the advancing Petr Čech and double the advantage.
Russia's momentum was halted in the 52nd minute when Václav Pilař beat Vyacheslav Malafeev neatly from Jaroslav Plašil's expert through ball.
But Dzagoev effectively killed the game off when the CSKA Moscow midfielder blasted past Čech once again 12 minutes from time.
Substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko then put a gloss on the win as he tricked his way into the box before firing into the roof of the net.
Lineups:
Russia: Vyacheslav Malafeev; Aleksandr Anyukov, Aleksei Berezutski, Sergei Ignashevich, Yuri Zhirkov; Roman Shirokov, Igor Denisov, Konstantin Zyryanov; Alan Dzagoev (Aleksandr Kokorin, 84), Andrei Arshavin, Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Roman Pavlyuchenko, 73)
Czech Republic: Petr Čech; Theodor Gebre Selassie, Roman Hubník, Tomáš Sivok, Michal Kadlec; Jaroslav Plašil, Petr Jiráček (Milan Petržela, 75); Jan Rezek (Tomáš Hübschman, 46), Tomáš Rosický, Václav Pilař; Milan Baroš (David Lafata, 85)
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| Russia player Alan Dzagoev celebrates scoring their opening goal against Czech Republic Photo: Getty Images |
The Russians opened the scoring just before the quarter of an hour mark when Dzagoev was on hand to knock in a loose ball after Konstantin Zyryanov's cross was headed against the post by Aleksandr Kerzhakov.
Midway through the first half, Andrei Arshavin seized on a loose ball and split open the defense with a brilliant pass across the area, which was met by Roman Shirokov to chip over the advancing Petr Čech and double the advantage.
Russia's momentum was halted in the 52nd minute when Václav Pilař beat Vyacheslav Malafeev neatly from Jaroslav Plašil's expert through ball.
But Dzagoev effectively killed the game off when the CSKA Moscow midfielder blasted past Čech once again 12 minutes from time.
Substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko then put a gloss on the win as he tricked his way into the box before firing into the roof of the net.
Lineups:
Russia: Vyacheslav Malafeev; Aleksandr Anyukov, Aleksei Berezutski, Sergei Ignashevich, Yuri Zhirkov; Roman Shirokov, Igor Denisov, Konstantin Zyryanov; Alan Dzagoev (Aleksandr Kokorin, 84), Andrei Arshavin, Aleksandr Kerzhakov (Roman Pavlyuchenko, 73)
Czech Republic: Petr Čech; Theodor Gebre Selassie, Roman Hubník, Tomáš Sivok, Michal Kadlec; Jaroslav Plašil, Petr Jiráček (Milan Petržela, 75); Jan Rezek (Tomáš Hübschman, 46), Tomáš Rosický, Václav Pilař; Milan Baroš (David Lafata, 85)
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