Baltika took all three points from Rodina Moscow in the Russian Premier League, winning 3:0 in Moscow on Saturday. The visitors opened their account early, and Rodina never recovered from the shock. To be fair, the hosts had the ball most of the time, but possession meant little when the game was decided in three sharp moments.
A. Mourid struck first in the twenty-second minute, and his yellow card in the twenty-sixth showed he was still throwing himself forward. C. Offor doubled the lead in the seventy-fourth, and M. Petrov added a third in the eighty-fifth. By then Rodina had already carved out nothing of note, and the visitors were simply seeing out their advantage.
There were plenty of changes across the pitch. B. Gil and A. Sokol came on together in the forty-sixth for Rodina, while A. Mendel and A. Mourid swapped at half-time for Baltika. Later rounds brought R. Fishchenko, V. Pospelov, A. Maksimenko, I. Pozo, M. Nade and N. Titkov into the frame, but none could turn the tide.
The numbers tell the story. Rodina held 72% of the ball and made 452 passes, but their expected goals sat at 0.25 with just one shot on target from three attempts. Baltika managed the reverse — 0.9 xG from five shots on target, three of which found the net. They created three big chances against Rodina's zero.
Rodina dropped to thirteenth with five points after five games, while Baltika moved up to seventh on seven. The hosts have not won since their opening day, and this result extended a run that now includes three defeats from their last four. The old head settled things down for Baltika — they knew when to tighten things up and when to let the game flow.