England, once again, like they have done numerous times in the past, managed to give it all away when they looked set for a win as Vasili Berezutski equalised for Russia in the dying moments of the game to snatch a point out of the match which ended 1-1. With the draw, England also maintained their perfect record of not winning their opening match of any of the European championships.
After this result, Wales now lead the Group B with 3 points, as they defeated Slovakia earlier in the day. While there were some players from the Three Lions who gave their all to give their team a winning start in the tournament, there were a few who ended up cancelling out their teammates’ hard work.
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Here we look at how players from both the teams fared in the clash.
England
Joe Hart – 6/10
The Manchester City goalkeeper had little to do in the match. He had to make a regulation save early on from Ignashevich’s header but defensive errors from the defenders resulted in him losing a clean sheet.
Kyle Walker – 7/10
Walker showed great understanding with Lallana in the early stages of the match and troubled the Russian defence throughout the first half. His defensive work was satisfactory as well.
Chris Smalling – 5/10
The Manchester United defender, like always, showed moments of brilliance but ultimately his knack of snapping at crucial moments made the English team pay.
Gary Cahill – 6/10
The Chelsea defender, who was nowhere near his best in the English Premier League this season, stepped up and made some brilliant clearances and challenges. However, he was not able to keep the Russians from scoring the equaliser.
Danny Rose – 7/10
The Tottenham fullback’s partnership with Sterling was sparkling and wreaked havoc in Russian ranks early on. His defensive work-rate was commendable as well but he did make some errors here and there, something which he would want to improve on as a tough test against Wales awaits.
Dele Alli – 6.5/10
The youngster kept troubling the Russian defence with his menacing runs forward and his trickery on the ball but he lost it all in the second half. His partnership with Lallana and Walker was commendable as well.
Eric Dier – 7.5/10
Probably England’s best player on the night, Dier kept the Russian attacks in check and made some brave sliding tackles. He gave England the lead in the 73rd minute with a thunderous free kick which, at least all England fans, thought was the winner.
Wayne Rooney – 6.5/10
The skipper once again proved why he can be a great option in the midfield as he kept spraying pinpoint passes throughout the match. However, why he was taken off for Wilshere, when England needed someone experience to hold on to the lead, by Roy Hodgson is still a big puzzle. Rooney’s shot on goal was saved brilliantly by Akinfeev in the second half.
Adam Lallana – 6.5/10
The Liverpool player gave a bright performance. A couple of his shots in the first half went straight to Akinfeev, however hs link-up play with Walker on the right flank was impressive.
Harry Kane – 6/10
A lot was expected from the Premier League’s top-scorer this season, however, the Tottenham man failed miserably to impose himself on the Russian defence. Though he improved his game in the second half, he was not able to take his team over the line.
Raheem Sterling – 6.5/10
Sterling thrived on the left, giving England some much-needed pace on the flanks. Though his crosses, more often than not were miscued or landed somewhere where none of his teammates were present.
Substitutes:
Jack Wilshere – N/A
Wilshere came on for Rooney, in a bizarre substitution in the 78th minute of the match.
James Milner – N/A
The Liverpool midfielder came on for Sterling in the 87th minute of the match and did absolutely nothing to save his team from losing two points.
Russia
Igor Akinfeev – 7/10
The Russian shot-stopper saved 3 to 4 shots from English players in the first half, though most of them were hit straight at him. He made a great save off a Rooney shot but was helpless to stop Dier from scoring off the free kick in the 73rd minute.
Igor Smolnikov – 5.5/10
Smolnikov was continuously troubled by Sterling and Rose on the right flank and apart from making a crunching tackle to deny the former from taking a shot on the goal, was pretty much uninfluential.
Vasili Berezutski – 6.5/10
Berezutski might be the hero for his country after scoring a last-gasp equaliser, he was pretty much dominated by the English attack throughout the match. Though he managed to keep out of sorts Kane quiet for majority of the match.
Sergei Ignashevich – 6/10
The central defender got little, or no help from his teammates but somehow held on and did not allow England a goal from open play even though the Thre Lions got a plethora of chances. He also struck a header straight at Joe Hart in the first half.
Georgy Schennikov – 5.5/10
Schennikov was left awestruck by the combination of Lallana, Alli and Walker and could not do much to stop them from entering the final third more often than not.
Roman Neustädter – 6/10
Making his competitive debut for the Russian team, Neustadter tried his best to stop Dier and Rooney from dominating the midfield, but did not succeed.
Aleksandr Golovin – 5/10
Golovin, one of the two holding mids in the 4-2-3-1 which Russia played was not able to do much and was pretty much run over by the English midfield.
Aleksandr Kokorin – 6/10
Kokorin tried to impose himself on the English defence, but other than playing in a couple of threatening crosses, did not do much in the match.
Oleg Shatov – 5.5/10
Shatov did not have much to do as the Three Lions dominated the ball and was made to track back more than he would have liked.
Fedor Smolov – 6/10
Smolov struck one curling shot which went just wide off the post, but other than that he did not have much to prove himself on the big stage.
Artem Dzyuba – 6.5/10
The towering striker ran his heart out in the match. Along with tracking back to help his defence, he tried his best to create pressure on the English defence as he was the focal point for Russian attacks. However, he was left isolated for majority of the 90 minutes.
Substitutes:
Roman Shirokov – N/A
Shirokov came on in the 77th minute for Golovin.
Denis Glushakov – N/A
Glushakov came on in the 80th minute for Neustädter.
Pavel Mamaev – N/A
Mamaev came on in the 85th minute for Smolov.
