Captain Artem Dzyuba scored twice to give Russia a 2-1 win over Slovenia in front of 15,000 fans in Sochi's Fisht Stadium on Saturday, putting the home side top of their World Cup qualifying group after two games. - UEFA WC qualifiers on ESPN+: Stream games, replays (U.S. only)
- Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only) Russia dominated the opening stages of the game and though Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak did his best to keep them at bay, Dzyuba opened the scoring with a side-footed finish after midfielder Daler Kuzyayev set him up in the box. Dzyuba added a second nine minutes later when he chested down a rebound off the crossbar, shrugged off two defenders and beat Oblak with a clinical finish. However, their two-goal advantage and the home crowd's roars lasted only a minute as Slovenia forward Josip Ilicic fired in a powerful shot from range without even looking up to see where Anton Shunin was in Russia's goal. Slovenia were unable to find an equaliser, however, with danger man Ilicic well-marked in the box as Russia held on to seal back-to-back wins in the qualifiers. Russia, who have six points, play Slovakia away next, while Slovenia play Cyprus, with both games to be played on Tuesday.
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