Russia 6 - 0 Cyprus: Rampant Russia romp through sorry Cyprus

Russia maintained their control over their FIFA World Cup Qualifying group as five second half goals saw a dominant display at the Gazprom Arena asserted their position at the top of Group H.

Russia came into this fixture with a fantastic record of four wins in five against Cyprus and immediately found themselves on the verge of elongating this run. Valeri Karpin’s side found themselves 1-0 up within five minutes, as Aleksandr Erokhin tapped home the opener following intelligent play from stalwart, Fedor Smolov.

‘Sbornaya’ tormented the Cyprus back line throughout the first half, with Erokhin coming inches away from doubling the home side's lead midway through the half. The Zenit man nearly added in style but his long-range effort went inches wide of Demetris Demetriou’s post. Nikos Kostenoglou’s men found themselves with an enormous chance to level before the break when a fiercely whipped corner was thundered towards goal by Costas Soteriou, that was inexplicably denied by Matvei Safonov.

After the break, Russia became rampant and extended their lead through Smolov. A lapse in concentration from Konstantinos Laifis allowed Aleksei Miranchuk the opportunity to bear down on goal before unselfishly squaring to Smolov, who cheekily shimmied around the keeper before tucking home. A misery compiler followed only a minute later via Andrei Mostovoy. The tricky winger collected the ball in the area and danced through the Cypriot defence before slotting home the showpiece goal of the match.

A calamity of errors saw Cyprus crumble yet again, with Aleksei Sutormin being the recipient of the good fortune to nod home the hosts fourth for the first time under Valeri Karpin. The Russian rout didn’t relent, and late on Anton Zabolotny displayed clever footwork to allow the talisman to drill home a fifth. The damage was complete in the 88th minute as an intricate move saw Erokhin star and finish proceedings by volleying home at the narrowest of angles, epitomising the 6-0 drubbing.