Watch: England lets Euro 2016 win slip away with late Russia goal
England had three points at Euro 2016 in the bag, but let two of them slip away in heartbreaking fashion.
Russia scored deep into stoppage time, and despite England controlling much of the run of play, having the lion's share of chances and getting a free-kick goal from Eric Dier in the 73rd minute, the two teams played to a 1-1 draw in Marseille, where clashes between the fans and police in the days leading up to the match and gameday stole much of the headlines.
England and Russia wind up a pair of points behind Wales, which was a 2-1 winner over Slovakia in Group B's opening match.
Dier opened the scoring after England prodded and prodded at goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev's net for the duration of the match. The 22-year-old Tottenham midfielder stepped up and took a free kick from 20 yards. Akinfeev's positioning seemed dubious, and Dier blasted his effort over the wall and under the crossbar to open the scoring:
Free kicks aren't Dier's forte, given that he hasn't attempted a shot off one for Tottenham:
Vasili Berezutski answered two minutes into stoppage time, with his diagonal, looping header drifting over Joe Hart and toward the far corner. Denis Glushakov got a final touch on the ball either as it was crossing the line or after, but either way, the goal counted for Russia, which secured the improbable point.
England had three good chances early, with Adam Lallana blasting a shot right at Akinfeev, Dele Alli not able to connect on a wide-open header off a feed from Raheem Sterling and Chris Smalling heading right at Akinfeev on a corner kick:
Akinfeev continued to stand on his head in the second half–up until Dier's goal–with no save better than his diving stop on Wayne Rooney in the 71st minute:
For more Euro 2016 scores, standings and statistics, visit our tournament home.
