MARIBOR. Russia prevailed over Slovenia to win 2-1. All goals were scored in the first half. It was Russia to strike first with a goal of I. Diveyev at the 28′. Then G. Dzhikiya scored again for Russia in the 32′ minute with a goal. Eventually, J. Ilicic reduced the distance for Slovenia with a goal. However, that was it, and the result remained 2-1.
The match was played at the Ljudski vrt stadium in Maribor on Monday and it started at 6:45 pm local time. The referee was Artur Manuel Ribeiro Soares Dias with the assistance of Rui Licínio Barbosa Tavares and Paulo Alexandre Santos Soares. The 4th official was Gustavo Fernandes Correia. The weather was clear. The temperature was quite cold at 6 degrees Celsius or 42.76 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 93%.
Match Statistics
There was not much difference in terms of ball possession. Slovenia was in possession of the ball for 54% of the time vs. Russia that controlled the ball for 46% of the time.
Slovenia was more aggressive with 63 dangerous attacks and 14 shots of which 6 were on target. Nonetheless, Russia was able to find the solution to win this match.
Slovenia shot 14 times, 6 on target, 8 off target. On the other side, Russia shot 11 times, 6 on target, 5 off target.
Cards
Slovenia received 6 yellow cards (B. Verbic, A. Gnezda Cerin, A. Sporar, Z. Rogelj, J. Bijol and S. Lovric). On the other side, Russia received 1 yellow card (A. Sutormin).
Match Timeline
Standings
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Group I
Group J
After this contest, Slovenia will stay with 10 points like Slovakia to stay in the 4th place. On the other side, Russia will have 19 points to stay in the 1st place.
Next matches
In the next match in the WC Qualification Europe, Slovenia will play away against Slovakia on the 11th of November with a 3-1 head to head stats in favor of Slovenia (1 draw).
Russia will host Cyprus on the 11th of November with a 3-0 head to head in favor of Russia (0 draws).
Slovenia – Formation
Slovenia
86'
77'
40'
Slovenia started with a 4-2-3-1 line-up (4-2-3-1).
The manager Matjaž Kek decided to play with the following team: Jan Oblak , Žan Karničnik , Jaka Bijol , Miha Mevlja , Jure Balkovec , Adam Gnezda Čerin , Jasmin Kurtić , Josip Iličić , Sandi Lovrić , Benjamin Verbič and Andraž Šporar .
The home team had on the bench: Žan Kolmanič, Miha Blažič, Benjamin Šeško , Igor Vekić, Domen Črnigoj , Žan Rogelj , Timi Max Elšnik, Vid Belec, David Tijanič, Jon Gorenc Stanković, Luka Zahović and Leo Štulac.
Substitutions
Slovenia made 4 changes: B. Verbic for B. Sesko (53′), A. Sporar for D. Crnigoj (72′), Z. Karnicnik for Z. Rogelj (86′) and A. Gnezda Cerin for L. Zahovic (86′).
Best player: Josip Iličić
The player that probably impressed the most for Slovenia was Josip Iličić.
His rating is with 1 goal, 40 passes (72% accurate) and 4 key passes. He was won 7 duels out of 11. He performed 9 crosses.
Russia – Formation
Russia
Russia started with a aggressive line-up (4-3-3).
On the opposite side, Valeriy Karpin played with: Matvey Safonov , Aleksei Sutormin , Igor Diveev , Georgiy Dzhikiya , Fedor Kudryashov , Daniil Fomin , Dmitriy Barinov , Daler Kuzyaev , Aleksei Miranchuk , Fedor Smolov and Zelimkhan Bakaev .
They had on the bench: Maksim Osipenko , Sergey Terekhov, Arsen Zakharyan , Anton Zabolotnyi , Daniil Glebov, Rifat Zhemaletdinov, Dmitri Chistyakov , Aleksandr Erokhin , Guilherme Marinato, Arsen Adamov, Ilzat Akhmetov and Andrey Lunev.
Russia could not rely on the presence of M. Osipenko (injured).
Substitutions
Russia made 5 changes: I. Diveyev for M. Osipenko (36′), A. Miranchuk for A. Zabolotnyi (78′), F. Smolov for A. Zakharian (78′), Z. Bakaev for D. Chistyakov (86′) and D. Fomin for A. Erokhin (86′).
Best player: Aleksei Miranchuk
The player that probably impressed the most for Russia was Aleksei Miranchuk even if he didn’t score any goal.
His rating is with 41 passes (85% accurate) and 3 key passes. He was won 5 duels out of 9. He performed 6 crosses.
Results of the day
These are the results of the day in the WC Qualification Europe.
- Romania – Armenia – 1-0
- North Macedonia – Germany – 0-4
- Iceland – Liechtenstein – 4-0
- Slovenia – Russia – 1-2
- Cyprus – Malta – 2-2
- Croatia – Slovakia – 2-2
- Norway – Montenegro – 2-0
- Netherlands – Gibraltar – 6-0
- Latvia – Turkey – 1-2
- Estonia – Wales – 0-1
- Belarus – Czech Republic – 0-2
