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Luis Suarez (1st L) of Uruguay celebrates scoring during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Group A match between Uruguay and Russia in Samara, Russia, June 25, 2018. (Xinhua/Du Yu)
SAMARA, Russia, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Uruguay concluded their group phase matches with a 3-0 win against hosts Russia at Samara Arena on Monday, advancing to round of 16 with three consecutive victories and a clean sheet.
Uruguay played 3-5-2 formation for the first time in this tournament, due to the absence of injured Jose Gimenez, reflected the ambition to win as well. The hosts, however, reserved Fedor Smolov and Aleksandr Golovin, who got booked in previous games, as they need only a draw to win the group.
Nine minutes into the game, Iury Gazinsky fouled Rodrigo Bentancur right on the edge of the box, giving the Uruguayans a free-kick and receiving a yellow card at the same time.
Luis Suarez converted the free-kick into a 1-0 lead. His low blast went into the right side of the goal, where Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev was standing, as he failed to anticipate the Barcelona striker's intent.
Three minutes later, Denis Cheryshev was close to levelling the score, but his half-volley was stopped by Uruguay goal keeper Fernando Muslera.
La Celeste doubled the lead then when Diego Laxalt's long-range strike was deflected by Denis Cheryshev into the net, leaving Igor Akinfeev's scrambling save in vain.
In the 36th minute, the hosts suffered another devastating moment. Igor Smolnikov was sent off after collecting the second yellow card by tackling Diego Laxalt from behind.
Right after switching sides, the Uruguayans were awarded another free-kick in front of the penalty area, but the other one of La Celeste's attacking duo Edinson Cavani failed to curl the ball over the head of the Russian defenders.
Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov sent on striker Fedor Smolov in the second half to replace 22-year-old midfielder Alexey Miranchuk but the hosts failed to find the net.
Smolov's appearance slightly changed his team's performance in terms of offence, but hardly restore Russia's morale, as they were playing a tough opponent with one man less.
With ten minutes to go, Uruguay wasted an opportunity to further expand their lead. In a counterattack, the Uruguayan duo played two on one, but the unmarked Cavani just missed Suarez's well-placed cross.
"Even we had 10 people on the pitch, we were running and we wanted to attack more, that's why I brought up a substitute," said Cherchesov during a post-match press conference. "From the very beginning we were not very successful, then we changed something and we were playing better. I believe we should have been so relaxed as we were today at the beginning," he added.
"We could have won by even more goals, but we didn't manage to score more. We need to improve quickly, because match in the round of 16 will be extremely difficult," Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said.
"Being top of our group pleased me a lot, and I like it that we didn't concede (one goal)," the Uruguayan added.
Uruguay are to compete with Group B runners-up for a berth in the quarterfinals. Spain and Europe champions Portugal will play Morocco and Iran respectively in the last round matches of Group B.
