Pinyaev broke Sychev’s record (a goal for the national team at 18), Pesyakov brought terribly – this is how Russia beat Iraq

First home match in a year and a half.

Russia played at home for the first time since November 2021: they defeated Iraq (2:0) at the Gazprom Arena, scored by Anton Miranchuk and Sergey Pinyaev. All major events happened in the second half, in the first the teams were silent.

Pinyaev became the youngest goal scorer in the history of the Russian national team: he scored at the age of 18 years, 4 months and 24 days. The midfielder of Lokomotiv broke the record of Dmitry Sychev (18 years, 6 months and 23 days): then Sychev scored in a friendly match against Yugoslavia on May 19, 2002, and his record stood for almost 21 years.

In the 58th minute (8 minutes after Anton Miranchuk’s goal), Pinyaev ran to someone else’s penalty area after a shot from his half of the field, effectively turned the Iraqi national team player, passed other defenders and plunged into the near corner – Jalal Hassan did not reach. 

And in the first half, Pinyaev was the most dangerous player of the Russian national team: he constantly aggravated, went to the stroke and hit on goal, he accounted for one of the two team shots on target. Sergey also took part in the second one: he could give an assist to Fomin, but Daniil’s shot was pulled out by Jalal Hassan.

At the 71st minute, Anton Zinkovsky replaced Pinyaev. Gazprom-Arena saw off Sergey with applause – he deserved it.

The national team still has a lot of mistakes: especially Pesyakov and Osipenko

Even before the match, the head coach of the national team, Valery Karpin, hinted at the routine of the match with Iraq: “If it were necessary to win 100%, then the composition would be different. Those who come out today are able to achieve results. I expect victory, there should not be a hat-throwing mood.”

A football player we know got into the starting lineup of the Iraqi national team: Ali Adnan has been playing for Rubin Kazan since the 2022/23 season. True, now he is only listed in the team: after the winter break, he did not play a single match.

The Russian team made a lot of mistakes. Already in the 9th minute, Sergei Pesyakov almost brought a pass: he gave a pass to the Iraqi national team player Ali Al-Hamadi, who tried to throw the goalkeeper by the collar. Saved by Ruslan Litvinov, who in a spectacular jump took the ball off the ribbon.