The Russians at last made their overwhelming superiority tell in the 50th minute as Arshavin scored their second, the “little jewel” as he is fondly called, sliding the ball home after another glorious team move with the Zenit-St Petersburg star at the end of Zhirkov’s pass.
The Swedes were pretty toothless up front with Ibrahimovic clearly laboring and it was the Russians who should have gone 3-0 up 10 minutes from time as Konstantin Zyryanov’s shot was deflected onto the post and thence to safety.
Then, as the Swedes pressed forward in desperate search of a goal — Lagerback having sent on veteran 35-year-old striker Marcus Allback in place of a defender — Pavlyuchenko had two glorious chances to add to the Russian tally but first miskicked and then seconds later directed his header into Isaakson’s welcoming hands.
However, for the Swedes there was nothing welcoming about the final result.
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