The match against Lithuania was played in the German town of Burghausen, and Russia went behind to a shock goal in the 24th minute, Mantas Savenas taking advantage of a mix up in Russia's defense to put the Baltic nation ahead.
The defensive error came just a few days after a similar mix up had gifted Serbia an equalizer in the two sides' friendly, also played in Burghausen. Russia went on to win that game 2-1, but the number of defensive errors committed against both Lithuania and Serbia will surely have worried Dutch trainer Guus Hiddink.
Stung into action, Russia equalized against Lithuania in the 33rd minute, Konstantin Zyrianov curling home a fine shot from just inside the penalty box. The Zenit St. Petersburg player, at 30 the second oldest in Hiddink's young squad, has been in excellent form of late and looks set to shine at Euro 2008.
Andrey Arshavin, disqualified for the first of Russia's two games at the tournament, slotted home Russia's second in the 52nd minute after a shot by Roman Pavluchenko had been beaten away by the Lithuania keeper.
Pavluchenko scored Russia's third with a smart turn and volley in the 63rd minute, and Vladimir Bystrov, living up to his surname, derived from the Russian for 'fast', sprinted into the box to hammer home an unstoppable shot for Russia's 4th.
Even without the injured Pavel Pogrebnyak, this season's UEFA Cup joint top scorer, Russia's attack seems to be in fine form, the side ending their three Euro 2008 friendlies against Kazakhstan, Serbia and Lithuania with an impressive 12-2 goal difference.
The defense could prove to be their Achilles heel, however, although midfielder Sergei Semak had some words of encouragement for Russia's fans, saying, "I'd ask the fans not to worry too much about defensive lapses; it was just a friendly. We will be playing differently in defence against other opponents."
With Russia looking to get out of their group at a major tournament for the first time since the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1991, the team's supporters will be hoping this is indeed the case. With Russia to kick off their Euro 2008 campaign on June 10 against Spain, featuring Liverpool's prolific striker Fernando Torres, any defensive slip-ups could see the team pay dearly.
After Spain, Russia face Greece on June 14 and Sweden on June 18.
Russia arrived in the Austrian mountain retreat of Leogang, their base for the Euro 2008 group games, on Thursday.
