Andy Potts

It was a victory - but a last-gasp lapse muffled Russia's celebrations more effectively than the thousands of swine-flu masks given to supporters before kick-off.

Guus Hiddink's side dominated the match against Slovenia and once Everton's left-winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov had given them a 2-0 lead they appeared to be well on the way to booking a place in South Africa.

But, in the 88th minute, a great evening turned sour. The visitors had barely troubled Russia's defence until the dying moments, when keeper Igor Akinfeyev made a fine save to parry Robert Koren's drive, but could do nothing as Nejc Pečnik nodded home the reboumd.

And Akinfeyev, widely tipped to become Edwin van der Sar's replacement at Manchester United, showed why he's one of the hottest properties in Europe to deny Marko Šuler in stoppage time.

For fans returning from the game, the hair-raising finale left the win feeling more like a defeat.

"That last goal was a killer," said Elvira Shakirova, among a subdued group of fans travelling back from the game on Saturday evening.

"I didn't expect a young Slovenian team to keep going like that, and as usual we couldn't quite hold on at the end.

"But even so, I hope we can still win in Slovenia and qualify for the World Cup."

The second match is on Wednesday (kick off 10:45 pm Moscow Time) in Maribor's tiny 12,000-seater stadium - a stark contrast with the 70,000 crowd which thronged Luzhniki.

And, with the away goals rule applying, Slovenia know that a 1-0 win would put them on the plane to the World Cup and leave Russia at home next summer.

­That pessimistic outcome was predicted by Sovietsky Sport columnist and former Russian international Yury Sevidov, who believes that Russia wasted a golden chance to all but clinch qualification on Saturday.

Now he fears a lack of physical fitness - which helped Slovenia push forward in the closing stages - coupled with the pressures of facing difficult opponents on their own turf will cost Hiddink's side in the return match.

"It's obvious that the Slovenians don't have a better class of player, nor is there more organisation to their game," he wrote. "But as we saw at Luzhniki, in a play-off the ability to endure and to fight to the end becomes more important - and Slovenia showed they have more strength and heart than us."

But head coach Hiddink was far more upbeat: "I believe we will score in Slovenia and go to the World Cup," he told journalists.

Key moments:

40 mins - 1-0 Roman Pavelyuchenko fed Diniyar Bilyaletdinov who neatly turned away from two defenders and shot home.

52 mins - 2-0 Andrei Arshavin broke down the left and found Bilyaletdinov, whose first shot was blocked before he drove home at the near post.

88 mins - 2-1 Igor Akinfeyev parried Robert Koren's shot but could do nothing as Nejc Pecnik was first to the rebound.

What they said:

Russian coach Guus Hiddink: "It's always disappointing when you allow your rivals to score a goal at the very end but we can only blame ourselves for it."

Slovenian coach Matjaz Kek: "I'm unhappy with the result but it's better to be wounded than dead."

Russia's goalscorer Diniyar Bilyaletdinov: "All comments will come after the second leg."