England and Russia could not be separated in their first game of their Euro 16 campaign, playing out to a 1-1 draw on Saturday night.
"?The buildup was marred by horrifying brawls between English and Russian fans on the outside, but proceedings were not deterred, and the teams got off to their scheduled 8:00 p.m kick off at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille.
The Three Lions, desperate to get their first-ever Euro opening match win, tried to push forward quite early, with Dele Alli hitting a strong volley wide from outside of the box three minutes in.
The Russian keeper, Igor Akinfeev, was called into action around three minutes later, as Adam Lallana received a pass from Wayne Rooney to hit the ball into his gloves.
England got another chance following Raheem Sterling's cross to an unmarked Alli, whose glancing header went wide of Harry Kane, who was waiting to pounce.
The Russians found favor in attack with just over a quarter of an hour gone. Sergei Ignashevich got his head to a free kick, but nodded straight into Joe Hart, who saved comfortably.
Roy Hodgon's men kept the tempo up as the half wore on, and Lallana dragged a great chance wide after Kyle Walker found him with a pass in front of goal. Sterling broke through the defence with a pacey run two minutes later, but Georgy Schennikov somehow got back to execute a great sliding tackle which sent the ball to safety.
After 28 minutes, England would see the ball to the back of the net through Kane's shot, but the Tottenham man was miles offside when he received the telling pass from Lallana, who should have known better than to poke it to him in that position.
The entire squad showed willingness and industry in the middle, working hard to recover the ball every time they lost it. Composure in front of goal was lacking however.
Alli put skill on display in the 35th minute, breaking away from two defenders on the right side of the box - albeit somewhat fortuitously - to find Rooney with a great pass. The captain's shot from the edge of the box was palmed away by the Russian stopper.
England had a few more half chances before the break, totally dominating Russia in all departments. They would have to settle for a 0-0 scoreline heading into halftime, though. But they really should have been ahead.
Russia came out of the break the better team, putting some early pressure on Hodgson's side and forcing them to make a desperate clearance in the 48th minute.
It' didn't take England long to grow into the half. Sterling was played a neat pass in the box, but the Manchester City winger's touch let him down, forcing him wide of the goal.
England's intensity just wasn't the same in the second half as it was in the first, and Russia took advantage, nearly going ahead with a curled shot from 20 yards by Oleg Shatov. The ball drifted just wide of the post, much to the relief of a nervous Hart.
Rooney seemed certain to get the goal for England after latching on to a loose ball in the 71st minute to hit a low, powerful shot. Akinfeev got down to make a miraculous save, tipping the ball onto the bar. Lallana's follow up shot hit the post, but it wouldn't have counted anyway, as he was deemed to have been offside.
Eric Dier would come up with the goods two minutes later, smashing a free kick over the wall and into the goal following Kane's dummy run. This goal marked Dier's second, the first coming as a last-minute winner against Germany in March.
England could not hold on to the lead however, conceding a heart-breaker in the last minute of stoppage time. Vasili Berezutski would stick it to the Three Lions with what was almost the last touch of the ball, rising high to float a header into the back of the net.
England, absolutely shell-shocked, could hardly muster anything up after that. They have again failed to win a Euro opening match, but they can take many positives from the performance.
Starting Lineups
England: Joe Hart; Kyle Walker, Chris Smalling, Gary Cahill, Danny Rose; Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Wayne Rooney; Adam Lallana, Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling
Russia: Igor Akinfeev; Igor Smolnikov, Vitali Berezutsky, Sergei Ignashevich, Georgi Schennikov; Roman Neustädter, Aleksandr Golovin; Aleksandr Kokorin, Oleg Shatov, Fyodor Smolov; Artem Dzyuba
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