Aguero scores, Argentina defeats host of World Cup 2018

Argentina won 1-0 away to Russia, host of next year's World Cup, in a friendly match on the evening of November 11.

As the higher-class team, Argentina played more proactively than Russia after the opening whistle. The South American visitors quickly created many interesting attacking situations, including flexible movements from the right wing by Eduardo Salvio.

Midway through the first half, the score could have been 1-0 if Di Maria and Messi had coordinated more precisely. After Messi broke into the penalty area, the two players passed the ball to each other and let it go out of play.

Aguero also had two attempts on goal, but both were unsuccessful. The Man City striker tapped the ball from a tight angle past a defender the first time, before his long-range shot was pushed aside by goalkeeper Akinfeev the next time.

The Russian defense had to constantly defend.

In contrast to Argentina's sharpness, Russia had almost no dangerous situations in the first half. The home team organized a number of attacks but were stopped by the solidity of the central defenders Mascherano - Otamendi.

The second half was not much different from the first 45 minutes. Both teams played more actively but lacked the luck to score.

Messi surprisingly missed a chance to face goalkeeper Akinfeev in the 49th minute. Instead of passing to Salvio in a more open position, M10 lobbed the ball over the goalkeeper and was cleared by the opposing defender right near the goal line.

Russia tried harder to shoot than in the first half, but still did not get positive results. Glushakov had two powerful shots towards the Argentina goal but could not beat goalkeeper Sergio Romero.

Just when the audience thought the match would end in a draw, Argentina suddenly scored a goal. From Messi's pass, Salvio escaped down the right wing without being called offside by the referee. After Salvio's next cross, Aguero's shot hit a defender's foot and then headed the ball into the Russian net.

Aguero scored the only goal for Argentina. Photo: Reuters

The match against Russia is Argentina's penultimate match of 2017. Coach Jorge Sampaoli's team has one more match against Nigeria on November 14. Messi will not play against Nigeria because the coach let him rest early to preserve his fitness.

According to VNE