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England grounded in Moscow
A second-half collapse in Moscow left England's Euro 2008 qualifying hopes out of their hands as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Russia. More
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Live Commentary
Time:90'- Russia
- England
90+4' It's all over!! England have thrown it away in Moscow and their Euro 2008 fate is not out of their own hands. Don't blame the pitch - blame some comic defending.- 90+3' Russia take an age over a throw-in and it just isn't going to happen for England.
- 90+1' It is desperate but ineffective stuff from England and now Pavlyuchenko is away on the break. He is one-on-one against Campbell who blocks his shot. Three minutes of time to be added on.
- 89' There are eight men in the box for an England corner but they get in each other's way of anything and Russia clear.
- 88' The crowd are going absolutely nuts with three minutes plus injury time to play. A free-kick is smashed wide of Robinson's goal.
86' Rooney!! He nearly sneaks a low left-foot shot in at the near post but Gabulov touches it behind. Then Campbell heads over from the corner.- 85' So, if things stay as they are, England are in a lot of trouble. Basically, if Croatia get anything against Macedonia, and Russia beat Israel and Andorra, it's game over.
- 83' Oh good lord. Richards swings and misses at a corner, and the ball bounces off the shin of Ferdinand inches wide. Typical of England's second-half performance.
- 80' That's right. Stewart Downing is England's saviour. And nice at it would be to be proved wrong, it isn't going to happen.
79' Triple change for England. Lampard, Peter Crouch and Stewart Downing on for Lescott, Cole and Wright-Phillips.- 78' Frank Lampard is stripped and ready to come on. Let's see if he is booed now...
- 76' Pavlyuchenko is in again for Russia and the visitors are in complete disarray. Rio's face stops its second shot of the evening.
74' More questions will be asked about Paul Robinson's fitness to keep goal for England after that second goal, and rightly. It was a weak parry right into the danger area. The kind of party piece at which Nigel Martyn used to specialise.
73' GOAL!!! What a turnaround!! Russia lead! Alexei Berezutski's shot is only parried by Robinson, and Pavlyuchenko gets there ahead of Lescott to prod the ball home!
71' Joe Cole goes down holding his ankle. He looks to be on death's door. Then he gets up and trots away.- 69' GOAL!! Payluchenko powers the penalty low into the left corner! Robinson dives the right way but can't get there and England's Euro 2008 qualification is on hold.
- 68' PENALTY RUSSIA!! Referee Medina Cantalejo points to the spot after Rooney pulls back Zyrianov. Poor decision. It was outside the box.
- 67' England look increasingly shaky at the back, and they really look in need of an Owen Hargreaves type to shore things up. Sadly, they don't have one.
- 66' Rooney leaps for a header and clonks Ignashevich in the head with his backside. Painful.
- 64' Russia's best chance of the game as Arshavin plays in Bilyaletdinov, who is blocked by Campbell as he pulls the trigger. A better first touch and it might have been a different story.
- 63' A slightly hairy moment as Robinson is nearly punished for some dodgy positioning by Campbell slides across to clear off the line.
- 62' You can see why Martin Tyler covers football. He has just equated England winning a one-day series in Sri Lanka with reaching the Rugby World Cup final. No prizes for guessing which of the two is on Sky.
- 60' An immediate impact from Pavlyuchenko as he fires in a shot that pinballs around 20 yards from the England goal before it is eventually cleared.
- 58' A nondescript performance from Aleksandr Kerzhakov comes to a premature end as he is replaced by Roman Pavlyuvhenko. A like-for-like change up front.
58' Rio Ferdinand is booked, which means he has totted up enough cautions to be suspended from the home game against Croatia.- 56' Gerrard's inswinging free-kick is glanced on by Rooney and Richards can't reach it when a slight touch would surely have made it two-nil. Gabulov dives to his left to push the ball away.
- 54' Wayne Rooney is back on and chucking himself around with gusto, thankfully. Russia continue to pass the ball around with no real menace.
- 51' Strong defending by Micah Richards to cut out a ball into the England box, then Arshavin volleys over from the edge of the area.
- 50' What a miss by Steven Gerrard! The England captain finds himself in all sorts of space on the left side of the box, and meets a Barry free-kick from the right with a sidefooted volley that goes just wide. He should have buried it.
- 49' Jeepers. Wayne Rooney is hobbling off with a grimace. He's having his knee rubbed so at least it isn't his foot again. Not that a knee injury is anything to be happy about.
46' Second half under way. Incidentally, half-time replays showed Wayne Rooney was marginally offside for the goal. Unless you're one of those nincompoops that eschews the rule book in favour of a ridiculous 'daylight' argument.- 46' A half-time change from Russia. Dmitri Torbinskiy is on for Vassili Berezukski - another midfielder!
- 45+2' That's half-time, England leading thanks to a cracking goal from Wayne Rooney. Just 45 minutes from qualification and a host of self-congratulatory interviews from Steve McClaren.
- 45+1' Russia are extremely dreary. Everything is being worked to Anyukov and Zhirkov on the flanks and England only have to deal with the resultant crosses and pull-backs. As I write, they almost fail to do just that but eventually scramble the ball away.
- 45' England corner on the right, delivered by Gerrard and Richards appears to lose his marker but fails to make contact with the ball. Odd. A chance, that.
- 43' Rooney hits a free-kick from getting on for 30 yards. Curls it over.
- 42' That's a punch. Gabulov leaps over Owen to get a fist on Rooney's cross, then topples over the striker in mid-air and lands with a neat cartwheel.
- 41' A third corner is swung in and Robinson punches away. Gets good distance although he does look a bit of a nugget doing it.
- 39' The Russian skipper Arshavin wins a corner, which is shanked hopelessly to the edge of the box. Still Russia manage to win another corner on the right thanks to an errant Ferdinand header.
- 37' Plenty of possession but little penetration for Russia. Guus Hiddink probably doesn't need some text commentator to tell him that's the kind of thing that happens when you have six men in midfield.
- 35' More nervy moments at the back for England as Lescott slips and Campbell is forced to concede a corner. This time England defend it well.
- 33' Some lovely passing from Russia results in Anyukov being played in on the right side of the box. But his touch is awful and Lescott clears for a corner.
- 31' Two goals in two games for Wayne Rooney after an international drought of approximately 16 years. See, he is good after all.
- 29' GOAL!!! What a volley from Wayne Rooney!! Richards lumps a long ball downfield, Owen leaps like a Heskey and flicks on for Rooney, who chests down and slams his volley high into the net. Great strike.
- 26' Zyryanov hits the post!! He cracks a shot from 20 metres that foxes Robinson and glances behind off the right-hand upright.
- 24' Zhirkov slips on the wet running track, which somehow the commentators manage to blame on the pitch. It is too small, apparently. Hard to say what that has to do with whether it is made of grass or not.
- 21' Another Russian shot is blocked and once again the cameraman reacts as though he is being subjected to electro-shock therapy. Calm down.
- 19' Wright-Phillips races down the right and crosses deep... there is nobody on the left to collect. Joe Cole AWOL.
- 17' Pitchwatch: The surface is fine. End of story. For crying out loud, they have played a whole host of Champions League games here. Kenilworth Road in the 1980s it ain't.
- 15' Some neat work from Rooney wins a corner which leads to a Cole shot. It smacks Rio Ferdinand in the face. A 'wag' in this office points out that, apart from the top corner, Rio's mush is most England fans' preferred destination for the ball.
- 14' Vasili Berezutski with a reckless challenge on Cole, and that is the first yellow card of the game.
- 11' Kerzhakov flings himself to the ground under a Joe Cole 'challenge' and demands a penalty. No dice. If he had just gone down normally he might have had a spot-kick there, but it was a ridiculous dive.
- 9' Gerrard tries a nifty backheel which is intercepted, and Russia stroke the ball around what is at time a six-man midfield, with Arshavin dropping back and the wing-backs Anyukov and Zhirkov getting forward.
- 7' Just a reminder, an away win will see England and Croatia through. A draw means Croatia qualify. If Russia win, it is very much up for grabs.
- 5' Things have just calmed down a little, which is no bad thing from an English point of view.
- 3' Rooney attempts to crack a volley from the edge of the area but makes poor contact and it dribbles wide. He'll consider that a chance. Can't blame the pitch for a rubbish volley, though.
- 2' Zhirkov's shot is blocked by Rio Ferdinand and the cameraman lurches, possibly drunkenly, denying us a look at where the ball ends up. Goal kick though.
1' We're under way! Kerzhakov immediately pulls off a few stepovers, then Ferdinand and Campbell combine to clear a dangerous cross into the area. Strong start from the Russians.- - Incredible hostility greets the English anthem. Jeers and whistles all round - real ferocity. Strangely comforting in a way. And my word the Russian anthem is a belter. Who wouldn't want to play for a country with a song like that? The crowd hold up red, white and blue bits of card to transform the stadium into a big flag. These ex-commies have a flair for this kind of grandeur...
- A big hose continues to douse the pitch with water. Honestly, such a song and dance has been made about this synthetic surface you'd think they were playing on the moon.- - Our man in Moscow Reda Maher is on his way to the ground - he'll have to be quick if he wants to be in position in time for the anthems. Reda tells us there are armed police everywhere, around 5,000 big men with guns keeping order. The atmosphere seems to be friendly - and no wonder, with that kind of artillery around. Talk about enforced fun.
- - The big news for England of course is that captain John Terry is out with a knee injury. Sol Campbell deputises while Joleon Lescott replaces the crocked Ashley Cole at left-back. The midfield and forward lines are unchanged, with Gareth Barry continuing to keep Frank Lampard on the bench.
- Welcome to England's crucial Euro 2008 Group E qualifying clash in Russia. Kick off is at 4pm UK time, so join us then!
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Summary
- 86' Rooney!! He nearly sneaks a low left-foot shot in at the near post but Gabulov touches it behind. Then Campbell heads over from the corner.
- 73' GOAL!!! What a turnaround!! Russia lead! Alexei Berezutski's shot is only parried by Robinson, and Pavlyuchenko gets there ahead of Lescott to prod the ball home!
- 69' GOAL!! Payluchenko powers the penalty low into the left corner! Robinson dives the right way but can't get there and England's Euro 2008 qualification is on hold.
- 68' PENALTY RUSSIA!! Referee Medina Cantalejo points to the spot after Rooney pulls back Zyrianov. Poor decision. It was outside the box.
- 64' Russia's best chance of the game as Arshavin plays in Bilyaletdinov, who is blocked by Campbell as he pulls the trigger. A better first touch and it might have been a different story.
- 56' Gerrard's inswinging free-kick is glanced on by Rooney and Richards can't reach it when a slight touch would surely have made it two-nil. Gabulov dives to his left to push the ball away.
- 50' What a miss by Steven Gerrard! The England captain finds himself in all sorts of space on the left side of the box, and meets a Barry free-kick from the right with a sidefooted volley that goes just wide. He should have buried it.
- 45' England corner on the right, delivered by Gerrard and Richards appears to lose his marker but fails to make contact with the ball. Odd. A chance, that.
- 29' GOAL!!! What a volley from Wayne Rooney!! Richards lumps a long ball downfield, Owen leaps like a Heskey and flicks on for Rooney, who chests down and slams his volley high into the net. Great strike.
- 26' Zyryanov hits the post!! He cracks a shot from 20 metres that foxes Robinson and glances behind off the right-hand upright.
- 11' Kerzhakov flings himself to the ground under a Joe Cole 'challenge' and demands a penalty. No dice. If he had just gone down normally he might have had a spot-kick there, but it was a ridiculous dive.
- 3' Rooney attempts to crack a volley from the edge of the area but makes poor contact and it dribbles wide. He'll consider that a chance. Can't blame the pitch for a rubbish volley, though.
- - Incredible hostility greets the English anthem. Jeers and whistles all round - real ferocity. Strangely comforting in a way. And my word the Russian anthem is a belter. Who wouldn't want to play for a country with a song like that? The crowd hold up red, white and blue bits of card to transform the stadium into a big flag. These ex-commies have a flair for this kind of grandeur...
- - Welcome to England's crucial Euro 2008 Group E qualifying clash in Russia. Kick off is at 4pm UK time, so join us then!
Live Team Line-Up
- Referee: Luis Medina Cantalejo
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Russia
Manager: Guus Hiddink
Captain: Andrei Arshavin
On the Field
- Gabulov
- Anyukov
- Berezutskiy
- Ignashevitch
- Berezutskiy
- Zhirkov
- Semshov
- Zyrianov
- Bilyaletdinov
- Arshavin
- Kerzhakov
Subs
- Malafeev
- Sychev
- Pogrebniak
- Denis
- Pavluchenko
- Torbinskiy
- Shirokov
Injured
- Akinfeev
- Bystrov
- Saenko
Suspended
None
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England
Manager: Steve McClaren
Captain: Steven Gerrard
On the Field
- Robinson
- Richards
- Campbell
- Ferdinand
- Lescott
- Wright-Phillips
- Barry
- Gerrard
- Cole
- Rooney
- Owen
Subs
- Neville
- James
- Lampard
- Young
- Crouch
- Shorey
- Downing
Injured
- Neville
- Hargreaves
- Heskey
- Terry
- Cole
Suspended
None
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