MOSCOW — Zenit St Petersburg forward Alexander Kerzhakov struck the all-important goal to earn Russia a hard-fought 1-0 win over Portugal and lift it to the top of 2014 World Cup qualifying Group F here Friday. Fabio Capello's side, which was recording its first ever win over Portugal in the post-Soviet era, maintained its perfect record with nine points from three matches to go three points clear of Portugal. Russia got off to a lively start, scoring when the match was just six minutes old through Kerzhakkov, who beat goalkeeper Rui Patricio with an unopposed shot from the egde of the box after seeing off the guests' defense on a breakaway. Portugal went on the attack searching for the equalizer and made Russian keeper Igor Akinfeyev the most overworked player on the wet synthetic pitch of Moscow's Luzhniki stadium. He was forced to perform a pair of impressive saves to deny dangerous shots by Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Alves. The visitors were dominating the play, keeping Russia under constant pressure. But Capello's men defended stoutly against Portugal's rare but nevertheless dangerous counter-attacks. After the interval Portugal continued testing the hosts' defense but Russia, spurred on by the 75,000 home crowd, played without making any major mistakes, stifling the visitors' attacks. Though Portugal had an obvious advantage in posession and looked dominant in general it failed to create any serious threat, while the Russians' replies looked much more dangerous. In the 66th minute halftime substitute Denis Glushakov had a chance to increase Russia's lead but the midfielder's low shot from the edge of the area was confidently stopped by Patricio. In the 82nd minute the keeper parried a dangerous shot by forward Alexander Kokorin also from the edge of the box, with Roman Shirokov's attempt on the rebound went too wide. In the closing stages Portugal pinned the hosts back but to no avail as it failed to create any scoring chances. On Tuesday, Russia takes on Azerbaijan while Portugal faces Northern Ireland. Ancelotti knows nothing, says Palermo boss Flamboyant Palermo president Maurizio Zamperini has launched a fierce attack on Paris Saint-German boss Carlo Ancelotti, saying that he knows nothing about soccer. The outspoken Zamperini, who has a reputation for the outrageous and for sacking managers on a whim, was responding to suggestions during an interview with website calcissimo.com that he had unloaded a flop on PSG when he sold it Argentine midfielder Javier Pastore for 40 million euro. He quickly turned his ire on the Champions League-winning Ancelotti. “Pastore is not a flop, Pastore is a phenomenon. Ancelotti does not know anything about football,” said Zamperini, who was four weeks into a self-imposed six-month media blackout when he made the outburst. “And do you know what I say? I'm glad that they lost in the Champions League (1-0 away at Porto), and that hopefully he'll learn not to play Nene in place of Pastore. I don't rate him as a manager. “Pastore is still a young lad of 23 years who has found himself surrounded by the wrong people, but he remains a phenomenon.” Ancelotti is a four-time winner of the European Cup, having won it twice as an AC Milan player and twice as the club's manager. He has also won the Serie A title with AC Milan and, during his two-year spell with European champions Chelsea, won the Premier League and FA Cup double before being sacked at the end of the second trophy-less season. Zamperini's volatile relationship with coaches has earned him the nickname “Manager-Eater” and he has fired 41 coaches since moving into football 26 years ago. — Agencies
