There have been two matchdays in the 2016 European Championship so far and the world has witnessed nine goals from four matches in Group A and Group B of the tournament.
Roy Hodgson and Leonid Slutsky had to go through a nerve-wrecking time at the Stade Vélodrome tonight because of the fast-paced football between both sides. England felt victorious over Russia after a thrilling game courtesy of brilliant free-kick from Eric Dier, but substitute Denis Glushakov broke the English hearts with a last minute equalizer.
The encounter saw both countries have their fair share of chances with a total of 19 attempts throughout the 90 minutes. England and Russia goalkeepers Joe Hart and Igor Akinfeev respectively were forced to make pin-point saves to keep their team in the game.
The likes of Danny Rose, Aleksandr Kokorin, Artem Dzyuba, Raheem Sterling and goalscorer Eric Dier all impressed tonight but only three players managed to steal the limelight.
Kyle Walker
The Tottenham Hotspur right-back has been defensively solid the entire game and he also offered a number of attacking options down the right flank. He created a couple of important opportunities for the the attackers but they (Harry Kane, Adam Lallana) were not up to par in the game. Kyle Walker was impressive against Portugal and he has stepped up once again.
Wayne Rooney
The Manchester United and England captain covered literally every inch of the Olympique Marseille pitch and provided the decisive passes that broke down the Russian defence. He managed to have a couple of shots on goal before being subbed off by Jack Wilshere.
Igor Smolnikov
The Russian right-back was on song as he matched Kyle Walker in terms of defensive and attacking support. He managed to keep Raheem Sterling at bay all night long and provided support to Aleksandr Kokorin down the right flank throughout the entire ninety minutes.
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