In World Cup qualifying, Russia had little problems with Group 4 longshot Liechtenstein, claiming a convincing 3-0 win in St. Petersburg.
Sergey Ignashevich’s header from close range went straight into Liechtenstein keeper Peter Jehle, before his CSKA Moscow partner Vasily Berezutski delivered a great shot to put Russian in front after 17 minutes. It was just his second goal for the national team.
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The next goal was just a matter of time, and it came on a penalty kick. Tottenham’s Roman Pavlyuchenko scored after Igor Denisov was brought down in the box at 27 minutes.
Russia, playing without their stars Andrey Arshavin and Yury Zhirkov, got the third goal seconds before halftime. And again it was Pavlyuchenko from the 11-meter mark.