Croatia 2-1 England: Hits and flops from the game, World Cup 2018

#1 Hit: Ivan Perisic

Ivan Perisic was everywhere for Croatia tonight and was a treat to watch for a majority of it. He worked hard to help out in defence and was the chief nuisance-maker for England in and around the box.

He ran into obstacles a tad too often in the first half when England were going gung-ho but refused to be bogged down by it, instead of keeping his head down and trying to pick out his chances.

His patience and efforts were eventually rewarded as he directed a Vrsaljko cross from the right into the net to level scores. The Croatian number 4 also struck the post and forced a save from Pickford later and one kept wondering if all the missed chances and ‘almost goal’ would come back to haunt his side.

It was Perisic again to the rescue, deciding he had had enough of drama and penalty shootouts, stepping up and taking matters into his own hands - or head, so to say.

He won a difficult header on the left and kept running despite Mandzukic seeming to have given up at first. Perisic’s persistence gave the Juve forward impetus to keep running and when the ball arrived, he was in the perfect position to slot home the winner.

The forward had turned creator after initially providing the equalizer and also putting in a commendable shift alongside Strinic in trying to contain England’s pace and wingers and was tonight’s man-of-the-match.

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Who do you think was the best player on the pitch tonight? Tell us in the comments below!