Austria vs Football Union of Russia. International Match.
Tivoli Stadion TirolAttendance14,500.
Thursday 31 May 2018 07:36, UK
World Cup hosts Russia slumped to a 1-0 defeat in a friendly against Austria, extending their winless streak to six matches.
Russia have lost all three games in 2018 after defeats to Brazil and France in March, and has not won a match since beating South Korea in October.
Austria winger Marko Arnautovic set up midfielder Alessandro Schopf for the only goal in the 28th minute, giving coach Franco Foda his fourth win from as many matches since taking over from Marcel Koller in November, after the team failed to qualify for the World Cup.
"We have to improve our passing," Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov told Austrian broadcaster ORF. "We created one, two chances to score but we have to do more."
The match, which was Russia's first abroad since beating Hungary 3-0 in Budapest a year ago, marked the end of the team's 10-day training camp in the Austrian region of Stubaital.
Russia play Turkey in Moscow on Tuesday in their final warm-up game before opening the World Cup against Saudi Arabia on June 14. They also play Egypt and Uruguay in Group A.
Russia started with a high-pressing game but gradually lost control of the match after a bright opening 15 minutes
Leading up to the goal, Vladimir Granat and Fyodor Kudryashov gave Arnautovic time to control the ball and set up Schopf, who was allowed to run by defender Mario Fernandes and beat goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev with a powerful shot just under the crossbar.
With Manchester United coach Jose Mourinho watching from the stands, Akinfeev denied Austria a second goal when he pushed Arnautovic's free-kick wide just before half-time.
Russia's best chance came shortly before the hour mark, but Fyodor Smolov sent his effort just wide.
"We didn't give away much in defence and our forward play was effective. It was a deserved victory," Schopf said.
Austria, who also beat Russia 1-0 twice in qualification for the 2016 European Championship, will host world champions Germany in Klagenfurt on Saturday and Brazil in Vienna next Sunday.
