Russia scored three times between the 70th and 79th minutes to turn a two-goal deficit into a 3–2 friendly win over Uzbekistan at Tashkent’s Pakhtakor Stadium on Thursday, 12 November 2026. The Russian Football Union’s same-day match report records Nikolay Komlichenko entering in the 66th minute before scoring twice, with Aleksey Miranchuk then supplying the winner.
The nine-minute reversal
A Viktor Melekhin own goal put Uzbekistan ahead in the fifth minute, and Bekhruzdjon Karimov doubled the advantage in the 46th. The AFC’s report, published on Friday, 13 November, confirms Komlichenko’s goals in the 70th and 75th minutes and Miranchuk’s decisive strike in the 79th.
The sequence gives the comeback a precise shape: Uzbekistan were still leading when the match reached seventy minutes, yet the direction of the result changed completely during the closing phase. Komlichenko’s first goal arrived four minutes after his introduction; his second followed nine minutes after he came on. The substitution therefore produced an immediate scoring contribution rather than simply adding a late appearance to his record.
A recovery with defensive questions attached
In post-match comments published by the RFU on 12 November, Komlichenko credited the substitutes with refreshing Russia’s attacking play. He also criticised how easily the side conceded from a corner and described the second goal as another setback after the interval. Those are the striker’s attributed observations, rather than a claim that the final score resolves Russia’s earlier problems.
The countries’ previous Tashkent meeting ended 0–0 in November 2022. Russia next host Venezuela in Krasnodar on 17 November, while Uzbekistan face Saudi Arabia in Doha that day. This completed result belongs to an international friendly; it does not award points in a qualifying group or league table.
Aleksey Miranchuk for Atlanta United against New York Red Bulls in May 2025; archival, not from the Uzbekistan match. Image credit: Bryan Berlin — Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0.
