The fate of Group Four in the European under-18 championships still lies in the balance after a 60th-minute goal from Dimitri Michkov handed his team a 1-0 victory over Cyprus at Belfield yesterday.
Yuri Smirnoff's side opted for just one man up front in Alezandre Petukov, but struggled for much of the game. Finally though, the gifted striker paved the way for Michkov with a neat one-two eventually seeing the Russian captain lift the ball over Nicos Nicolaou to maintain his side's 100 per cent record going into tomorrow's crucial tie.
Russia: Baranov; Panforov, Yakovenko, Ivanov, Zinovyev, Dyatel, Michkov, Okorochkov,
Grichine, Zlydnev, Petukov. Subs: Aristarkkhov for Okorochkov (55 mins), Solnstev for Yakovenko (83 mins), Nelson for Grichine (88 mins).
Cyprus: Nicolauo; Filaniotis, Charalambous, Stavrinou, Antoniou, Lithrangomitis, Aristodemu, Pochouzouris, Theofilou, Louca, Angeli. Subs: Fasoulis for Lithrangomitis (85 mins), Chrysafi for Pochouzouris (41 mins), Demosthenous for Louca (48 mins).
Referee: J Jaroslav (Cze).
GROUP FOUR
Russia - (0) 1 Michkov 60 Cyprus - (0) 0 Rep of Ireland - (2) 2 Healy 24 Barrett 42 Poland - (1) 2 Paluszek 4 Fabianowski 68
Russia< li 22 003 06 Rep of Ireland - 21 107 34 Poland< li 20 112 41 Cyprus< li 20 021 60
