Martin Buchel's unfortunate own goal in the fourth minute means that Russia take a 1-0 lead over Liechtenstein into the dressing room at half time in the opening Group G match of Euro 2016 qualifying.
Liechtenstein, who are without a competitive win since 2011, were on the back foot from the word go, but conceded an unlucky goal inside the first five minutes in Khimki.
Sergei Ignashevich let fly with a 30-yard free kick that ricocheted off Buchel, wrongfooted goalkeeper Peter Jehle and found the near corner of the net.
The majority of the half was spent in the Liechtenstein half, but the visitors did almost find an equaliser on the quarter-hour mark when a free kick of their own by Sandro Wieser grazed the left post, with Russia keeper Igor Akinfeev confident that it was going wide.
The home side, who are managed by former England boss Fabio Capello, looked particularly like scoring a second as the half drew to a close, but Aleksandr Kokorin and Alexander Samedov couldn't beat Jehle with close-range efforts.
