Luis Suarez’s fantastic free-kick into the bottom right-hand corner, Denis Cheryshev’s own goal and Edinson Cavani’s goal in the 90th minute helped Oscar Tabárez’s men edge past the hosts Russia in the top-of-the-table match on Monday at Samara Arena. Uruguay now holds the top position in Group A with 9 points, hosts Russia at the second position.

La Celeste walked onto the field without having conceded any goals and they made sure it stayed that way.

Since the beginning, Uruguay had the upper hand with Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani providing a threat Russia hadn’t faced in the tournament.

During the second half, Russia made efforts to put Uruguay defence under significant pressure but in the end, they were unable to make room for a shot and Muslera remained at ease on his 100th cap.

The turning point in the match came in the 23rd minute when Diego Lazalt tried a long-range shot. It was deflected slightly by Cheryshev of Russia and hit the net. It was ruled as an own goal.

Then the chances of a comeback were dimmed when the 11-member squad was reduced to 10 after Igor Smolnikov was shown a second yellow card for tripping.

Uruguay exploited the advantage and put the Russians on defence. They were able to find the gap in the stoppage time when Edinson Cavani jumped on a rebound and poached it to make the final score 3-0.

Russia’s qualification in the Round of 16 has been the most impressive in World Cup 2018 but Stanislav Cherchesov’s side was brought back down to the ground in Samara.

Even after showing a great game in the second half, Russians could not stop Cavani to net his goal of the tournament in the 90th minute.

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