Kokorin comes up trumps for Russia

Russia won for the second time in five days to keep the pressure on Romania at the top of Group 1 in qualifying for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Kokorin opener
The home side beat the Faroe Islands 2-0 on Saturday and followed that up with a 3-1 win at the Arena Khimki to move level with fellow section leaders Romania on 15 points from six games. Igor Kolyvanov's troops effectively made sure of the points and their fourth straight win with three goals in the first half, prompted by the first of two for Aleksandr Kokorin when he turned in Pavel Yakovlev's cross in the fifth minute.

Balyaykin strike
FC Spartak Moskva winger Yakovlev also set up the second goal with 38 minutes gone when, following a fine run, he picked out Evgeni Balyaykin to register with a powerful strike. Kokorin then completed his double four minutes before the interval after fine work from PFC CSKA Moskva defender Georgi Schennikov. Dmitrii Vornisel provided a 62nd-minute response for the visitors, who saw off Andorra on Saturday, but it was not enough to stir a comeback.