Russia Pleases Audience With 2-0 Win

         Russia and New Zealand kicked off the start of the 2017 Confederations Cup with a nevertheless, ugly performance. Immediately, Russia had two great scoring chances in the first 10 minutes that were both cleared off the line. The first was Viktor Vasin's header off a corner that hit the post and was cleared by New Zealand's defender Michael McGlinchey. Just later, Dmitry Poloz's chip over New Zealand's keeper Stefan Marinovic was kicked away by Tommy Smith. However, the worst part of New Zealand's night came from two key miscues, both involving their defender Michael Boxall. About five minutes after Fedor Smolov's goal was ruled offside, Russia intercepted a New Zealand pass in the final third, and after quick passes from Aleksandr Yerokhin and Dmitry Poloz, Russia's Denis Glushakov faced a 1-1 with the keeper. Glushakov's shot beat Marinovic, hit the post, before being kicked in by accident by Boxall in a collision between him and fellow teammate Andrew Durante.
          Russia would keep pressuring in the second half until they scored their 2nd in the 69th minute, 38 minutes after goal 1. Before then, however, Marinovic made a double save in the 48th minute, stopping Poloz's header and then Yerokhin's response. During the 2nd goal setup, Smolov interecepted the ball played it wide to Aleksandr, who crossed it low in the box. Boxall made a poor clearance, and the ball was easily tapped in by Smolov. New Zealand's best chances came within seconds of each other in the 78th minute, first with Ryan Thomas' shot through traffic being blocked by the Russian keeper, and then Smith's header cleared off the line by Yuri Zhirkov. On the final play, Marinovic made his 6th, final, and most impressive save, blocking Aleksandr Bukharov's shot from 6 yards out with his knee. All in all, though, the result Russia needed.

The first goal was mistakenly tapped in by Boxall (#5)