Russia 1-0 Romania: Magomed Ozdoev last-gasp goal stops the rot for hosts

Russia defied their poor form to beat Romania in Chechnya on Tuesday

They had won just one of their last 10 games before win at Akhmat Arena

Magomed Ozdoev scored three minutes into injury-time to land a win

Russia struggled for much of the friendly, with Costel Pantilimon in form

Three days after being criticised by Vladimir Putin, Russia ended a run of poor form on Tuesday by beating Romania 1-0.

Magomed Ozdoev grabbed a last-minute winner in the friendly for the 2018 World Cup hosts.

Russia had won just one of their last 10 matches, triggering the Russian president to remark that 'we haven't seen beautiful play from the national team for a long time.'

In the first international game to be played in the formerly war-torn Russian region of Chechnya, Russia struggled for much of the 90 minutes due to poor finishing and good saves from Romanian goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon.

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Magomed Ozdoev (right) celebrates his injury-time goal with Alexander Erokhin on Tuesday

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Russia's Yury Zhirkov (right) goes down under the challenge of Dorin Rotariu in Grozny

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Romania's goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon made a series of good saves at the Akhmat Arena

That all changed when Romania struggled to clear the ball in the final minute of stoppage time. Some fortunate deflections saw the ball fall to Ozdoev for an easy finish despite a possible offside.

Russia manager Stanislav Cherchesov is trying to inject new blood into a team which was among the oldest at the summer's European Championship, where it crashed out. 

On Tuesday he opted for Spartak Moscow's up-and-coming Ilya Kutepov and Terek Grozny's Andrei Semyonov at centre half. 

The partnership held up well though rarely came under sustained pressure from a Romanian team which also failed to qualify from the group stage in Euro 2016.

Pantilimon showed good reactions to keep out Alexander Samedov's effort for Russia early on, before Dorin Rotariu missed the target when one-on-one with Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev in Romania's best opportunity of the game.

Samedov shot wide just before half-time, and Russia came close again in the 65th when Alexander Kokorin mishit a shot straight at the advancing Pantilimon when a slight lob would have likely scored.

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Romania's Pantilimon (left) and Gabriel Enache (right) block a Dmitry Poloz effort at goal

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Russia's Andrey Semenov (right) attempts to get past Romania's Bogdan Stancu

Russia were able to host Romania in Chechnya, which is ruled by sports-loving and pro-Kremlin strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, because it was a friendly rather than a competitive European game. 

UEFA has consistently refused to allow games to be played in Chechnya due to security concerns.

One team at the 2018 World Cup will be based in Grozny despite occasional incidents of unrest there, including an attack by militants in December 2014 which left more than 20 people dead. 

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Russia's national team players pose for a photograph prior to their international friendly

MATCH FACTS 

RUSSIA: Akinfeev, Samedov, Semyonov, Kutepov, Kudryashov (Novoseltsev 84), Glushakov, Zobnin, Mogilevets (Erokhin 68), Miranchuk (Poloz 61), Zhirkov (Ozdoyev 45), Kokorin.

Subs not used: Kritsyuk, Panchenko, Gazinski, Shishkin, Vasin, Kombarov, Belenov, Jikia.

Scorer: Ozdoyev 90+3.

ROMANIA: Pantilimon, Enache, Sapunaru, Grigore (Tiru 90+1), Latovlevici (Filip 66), Prepelita, Marin, Rotariu, Stancu (Nedelcu 90+2), Grozav (Popa 83), Andone.

Subs not used: Cojocaru, Tosca, Lung, Bicfalvi.

Yellow card: Prepelita.