Bet Facts / maxliu / 26 June 2008 / Leave a comment

Cesc Fabregas is the architect of a superb second-half display as Spain dispose of Russia.

Spain are favourites to win Euro 2008 after winning through to their first final in 40 years with a 3-0 victory over Russia which had been matched at [60.0]

In torrential rain and under bolts of intermittent lightning a tight first half intrigued but lacked penetration with Arshavin anonymous and Roman Pavlyuchenko isolated for Russia.

Fernando Torres looked threatening and the Russian defence at times struggled with his pace but he could not make the break through. Match odds did not drift far from the pre-kick-off [4.0] for a Russian victory and [2.08] for Spain to win.

David Villa's 29th minute dipping free-kick was smartly gathered from the soaked surface by Igor Akinfeev and the most significant moment of the half came when the tournament top scorer was taken off injured and subsitute Cesc Fabregas brought on to be deployed as an auxiliary striker behind Torres.

Ironically the very thing which led punters and pundits to steer clear of 0-0 predictions prior to kick-off was the cataylst for deadlock as perhaps the two most technically accomplished sides in the tournament cancelled each other out.

Before the game 0-0 traded at [11.0] in the Correct Score market and at the end of the first 45 minutes punters must have been wishing they had backed a bore draw. At this point Under 1.5 goals at full time had slipped to [1.95].

Everything changed five minutes into the second half when Xavi gave Spain the lead with a speedy burst through the Russian defence to stab home Iniesta's cross.

Spain were now [1.3] to win with Russia out at [15.5]

And it could have got even worse for the Russians when minutes later Torres curled a good chance over Akinfeev's goal.

Russia came out in seach of an equaliser and this suited Spain with Iniesta instrumental as they began to open Russia up. On the hour Spain were [1.26] for the win with Russia [19.5]. [3.2] in the Correct Score market for 1-0 reflected Torres' increasing menace.

But the Liverpool man was subsituted soon after and replaced by Dani Guiza. This proved to be a masterstroke by Aragones as the Mallorca striker latched onto an exquisite Fabregas pass to put Spain two-nil up on 73 minutes. Spain were now [1.02] with Russia [200.0] to win.

Fabregas claimed another assist when David Silva had the composure to latch onto the Spanish number ten's perfectly weighted pass and place the ball into the bottom left corner of Akinfeev's goal.

This capped an excellent Spanish second-half and one which seemed unlikely at half-time with a 3-0 Spain victory matched at [60.0].

Over 2.5 goals had been backed at [5.7] with under at [1.2].

Spain are now [1.69] favourites to win Sunday final against Germany [2.42].

Spain have been matched at a high of [19.5] to win Euro 2008 on Betfair, Germany [13.5]

Tags: Euro 2008 Betting, Fabregas, Germany, Guiza, Iniesta, Russia, Spain, Torres, Villa, Xavi