Two goals by Pavel Pogrebnyak, the second a penalty kick in the second half, gave Dick Advocaat a 2-0 win over Andorra in his debut as Russia coach. The win moved Russian ahead of Ireland at the top of Group A.
It was a controlled performance from the Russians, 2008 semifinalists who missed this year’s World Cup. Pogrebnyak was set up int he 14th minute by Andrei Arsahvin and finished the second half penalty chance won by Alan Dzagoev.
Russia was playing with midfielder Diniyar Bilyaletdinov at left back, with normal fullback Yuri Zhirkov serving a suspension earned in Russia’s World Cup playoff against Slovenia.
65’ - Pavel Pogrebnyak (pk) 2
20’ - Joseph Ayala (Yellow)
26’ - Ildefons Lima (Yellow)
28’ - Marc Puyol (Yellow)
Andorra: Gomes, Lima, Rubio (Lorenzo 58’) Bernaus, Martinez, Ayala, Vieira, Moreno (Jimenez 76’), Pujol (Meijas 89’), Silva, Gomez
Republic of Ireland: Akinfeev, V. Berezoutski, Ignashevich, Anyukov, Bystrov (Dzegoev 61’), Semshov, Bilyaletdinov, Shirokov, Zyrianov, Arshavin, Pogrebnyak