Player Ratings: Russia 2-1 Slovenia

RUSSIA

Akinfeev: 7 - Fluttered slightly against Dedic in the first half, but made a few astounding saves at crucial moments to ensure his side emerged victorious.

Zhirkov: 7 - Could have scored the goal of the century in the first half when he ghosted through five or five players on his road to goal. Defended well, always an option on his flank, made the fans wonder why Chelsea don't play him every week.
    
Berezutski: 7 - Solid defending yet again from the towering centre-back.

Ignashevich: 7.5 - Almost scored twice with stunningly taken free kicks. Stung the palms of Handanovic a few times and defended wonderfully.

Anyukov: 6 - Defended well, but didn't venture forward as much as his opposite full-back. Supported Ziryanov when called upon.    

Bilyaletdinov: 8 - Had people wondering who scored when he netted the first of the match with what might as well have been his first touch. Looked like he was going to be silent for the whole match, but sprung to life after opening the scoring. Netted a second and looked determined when chasing his hat-trick.

Semak: 7 - Swept up wonderfully, always looking to do something positive with the ball. Got hooked for Bystrov in the second half as Guus Hiddink opted to shake things up a bit.

Denisov: 6.5 - Kept things ticking well enough that Hiddink thought he could marshall central midfield on his own as Semak went off.

Ziryanov: 6 - Held the ball well and delivered a few choice crosses. Moved well during build-up play.   

Arshavin: 5 - Poor play from the Arsenal star. Arshavin just was not at the races today, looking slow on the ball and passing in a sloppy manner.

Pavlyuchenko: 7 - Assisted Bilyaletdinov for the first goal, produced some wonderful hold-up play and almost netted himself a goal on a few occasions. Had he been playing more with Tottenham, one has to wonder if 'Big Pav' could have made tonight a bit of a nightmare for the visitors.

Subs

Bystrov: 6 - Made a nuisance of himself after being introduced at the expense of Sergei Semak. Made life difficult for Jokic.

Sychev: 4 - Entered the fray with very little time left and managed to get himself in the ref's book after only being on the pitch for less than a minute.


SLOVENIA

Handanovic: 7.5 - Couldn't do anything for the goals that went in, but did plenty to avoid embarrassment for the Slovenians. Made some other-worldly saves and generally had a great game.

Jokic: 5 - Didn't do enough to get forward and was completely overshadowed by fellow full-back Brecko.

Cesar: 5 - A poor performance was had by the centre-backs, both men finding it difficult to deal with a rusty Pavlyuchenko. Both players really had people wondering where Slovenia's excellent defensive reputation in the group stages had appeared from.
      
Suler: 5 - Almost scored at the death for his side, but otherwise had a terrible game. Shaky on set pieces and awful in the air, he joins his defensive partner in the players who are now filed under 'should have done better'.

Brecko: 7 - Only player worth mentioning in Slovenia's entire back four. Did remarkably well in marshalling whoever came snooping down his flank and got forward whenever he could.

Koren: 6 - Stepped in a few times to control the tempers of his players. Had a few pop-shots during the course of the game and perhaps was unlucky not to see his positive attitude have more of an effect on his forwards.

Kirm: 4 - Very poor in possession. Found it hard to string a pass to any of his team-mates and couldn't control the ball well enough when it was passed to him. Should have been hooked much earlier.

Radosavljevic: 5 - Fairly unimpressive. Failed to stamp any kind of authority on the game.

Birsa: 5.5 - Had some decent link-up play early in the match with Novakovic and was perhaps a little unlucky not to have scored on one occasion.

Dedic: 6 - Played well for the time he was afforded on the pitch. Always snooping around the goalmouth area and never afraid to drop back into midfield to help with defending.

Novakovic: 6.5 - Played the same game as Pavlyuchenko. Passed well, held the ball up wonderfully, but again, toothless when he was needed the most.

Subs

Pecnik: 7 - Scored a poachers goal near the end of the match.

Stevanov: 5 - Replaced Birsa, but didn't offer enough to change the game in any significant way.

Ljubijankic: 5 - Couldn't get himself into the game as much as Dedic had been doing.

Stephen Crawford, Goal.com