#WorldCup : Hosts Russia thrash Saudi Arabia 5-0 in opening match in a goal spree

Russia 5-0 Saudi Arabia: World Cup hosts start the party with convincing win led by a pair of subs
Russia made easy work of Saudi Arabia in the opening match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Moscow.

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Host nation Russia thrashed Saudi Arabia 5-0 in the opening match of the World Cup to start their tournament in style in Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium on Thursday.

Iury Gazinsky opened the scoring with a header after 12 minutes, Denis Cheryshev added a second before Artem Dzyuba got the third in the 71st minute.

Cheryshev added a fourth with a superb finish before Golovin curled in a superb free-kick in injury time as President Vladimir Putin watched on in delight.

Russia (4-2-3-1)

Igor Akinfeev (capt); Mario Fernandes, Ilya Kupetov, Sergey Ignashevich, Yury Zhirkov; Iury Gazinsky, Roman Zobnin; Alan Dzagoev, Aleksandr Golovin, Alexander Samedov; Fedor Smolov
Coach: Stanislav Cherchesov (RUS)

Saudi Arabia (4-5-1)

Abdullah Al-Muaiouf; Osama Hawsawi (capt), Omar Hawsawi, Mohammed Al-Burayk, Yasser Al-Shahrani; Salman Al-Faraj, Yahia Al-Shehri, Abdullah Otayf, Taiseer Al-Jassam, Salem Al-Dawsari; Mohammed Al-Sahlawi
Coach: Juan Antonio Pizzi (ESP)
Referee: Nestor Pitana (ARG)

Serena beats Maria again !!!

American tennis great Serena Williams is through to the semi-finals at the Australian Open again, and once again she's beaten Maria Sharapova in Melbourne.

Williams again triumphed in a repeat of last year's women's final on Rod Laver Arena - in fact, Sharapova has now lost her last 18 matches against the 34-year-old.

The world No.1 was pushed hard in the first set but then Williams easily overcame her old Russian rival in the second to win their quarter-final 6-4 6-1.

Sharapova got the early break in the opening set, but the defending champion broke back and held serve at 4-4 despite the Russian having two break point chances.

The six-time Melbourne champion then blew three set points on Sharapova's serve in the decisive 10th game, before Williams prevailed with her fourth attempt.

The second set was much easier as Sharapova crumbled - the 2008 champion's serve was broken straight away, and again to trail 0-5 before she finally held. But then Williams, in a truly dominant display, served it out.

Williams, who twice had treatment during breaks in the rematch of last year's final, has reached the last four at Melbourne Park on six previous occasions and gone on to win the title every time.

"Yeah it was super intense, she's an incredibly intense, focused player who was No.1 and has won so many grand slams for a reason so when you're playing someone like that, that's so great, you have to come out with a lot of fire and intensity," Williams said.

She now plays Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the semis, after the fourth seed advanced 6-1 6-3 over 10th seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.

It's the second semi-final Radwanska's made at Melbourne Park, and she said it wasn't as easy as the scoreline would suggest.

"I knew it would be a tough one," Radwanska said.

"She is very solid, like most Spanish players and I knew everything would come back to my side. I tried to be aggressive and focus on my serve and I think I did a good job."

Williams, who is looking for her 22nd major singles title, has an 8-0 head-to-head record against Radwanska.

- RNZ/Reuters