Igor Akinfeev saved two penalties to send Russia into the quarter-finals and knock Spain out of the competition after their round-of-16 game finished 1-1 after extra time.
Fernando Hierro’s side got off to the perfect start as they opened the scoring with just 12 minutes played. Marco Asensio whipped in a devilish free kick towards Sergio Ramos at the back post. The Spain captain wrestled to get free from Sergei Ignashevich, who inadvertently directed the ball into the back of his own net.
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2 – Russia are the first team to score multiple own goals in a World Cup tournament since 1966, when Bulgaria conceded two. Sabotage. #ESPRUS #RUS #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/43JkSsqM8g
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 1, 2018
La Roja were seemingly in cruise control as they dominated both the possession and territory but failed to push on for a second goal.
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The hosts were then given a lifeline when a Gerard Pique handball offered Artem Dzyuba the opportunity to level the scores from the penalty spot. The striker stepped up and sent the crowd into raptures by smashing his spot-kick into the top corner.
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Despite dominating possession for the entirety of the second half, Spain created very little in terms of genuine goalscoring chances and it became pretty apparent that the game was destined for extra time.
Spain looked to turn up the heat in extra time and despite looking more threatening, they could not break down Russia’s defensive resolve.
Stanislav Cherchesov’s men held on to send the game to penalties.
Igor Akinfeev was then the hero, saving two of Spain’s penalties to send the hosts into the quarter-finals.
