Russia mount finals offensive

Russia edged closer to the UEFA European Under-21 Championship play-offs after goals from Sergei Samodin, Ruslan Nakhoushev and Dmitry Torbinskiy earned them a 3-0 win against Luxembourg.

Attacking display
With Portugal already having secured top spot in Group 3, Russia now need only avoid a heavy defeat in their final match against third-placed Slovakia on Tuesday to be certain of a place in next month's two-leg play-offs.

New blood
With debutants Samodin and Anatoli Gerk lining up in a four-pronged attack, Russia took control from the start, and within 15 minutes the new boys had conjured up a goal as Gerk laid the ball on for PFC CSKA Moskva youngster Samodin to open his U21 account.

Good goalkeeping
Luxembourg goalkeeper Laurent Mond played a starring role in the first half, doing well to deny Ivan Saenko when he raced through on goal after 38 minutes, but he had his crossbar to thank four minutes later as the woodwork denied Samodin a second goal from a header.

Final flourish
However, Mond could not hold out, and he was beaten again on the stroke of half-time when Nakhoushev converted directly from a free-kick. Torbinskiy then made it 3-0 on 75 minutes after latching on to a pass from FC Lokomotiv Moskva's Aleksandr Samedov.

Chernyshov happy
Russia coach Andrei Chernyshov was delighted with his side's performance, saying: "I am very happy with this win. It is always difficult to play against a team who defend in numbers. My lads were just fine tonight."