They doubled their lead just before half-time courtesy of this spectacular goal from Hamsik, as he collected a corner and sent a thunderous effort off the post and in. What a strike it was from a short corner.
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Substute Denis Glushakov headed in from Igor Shatov’s cross in the 80th minute to prompt a frenzied finale.
That appeared to be the only issue for authorities inside Lille’s Stade Pierre-Mauroy, in contrast to last week’s scenes in Marseille’s Stade Velodrome, where Russian fans charged into a section for England supporters after the final whistle in the draw between the two countries.
“He has matured on a personal and professional level and I think Napoli is too small a club for him now”, said Slovakia coach Jan Kozak.
Russian Federation are now on the brink of elimination from Euro 2016 and while many will primarily be delighted with that because of the disgraceful scenes in Marseille, the boring nature of their football is just another reason why the tournament would not lose much by losing Leonid Slutsky’s side. His goal and performance – and potential interest from clubs beyond Napoli – were the only other subjects to really be discussed, other of course than all the controversy surrounding Russian Federation.
He assisted Slovakia’s first goal that put them up 1-0. Russian midfielders Oleg Shatov and Aleksandr Golovin (inside the yellow circle) take up their standard positions at the top of the box.
“We face a different opponent”, Kozak said.
“The match was very close and tense; nobody wanted to open up space and concede. After we went behind, we had to change our plan, especially the system in midfield”.
“We have to get ready well for them”, Slovakia midfielder Juraj Kucka, speaking at the team’s training base in Vichy, said of England. All of a sudden Slovakian confidence had completely evaporated and they were pinned back with 10 minutes to go.
“There’s the Champions League to play and we want do great things”.
LILLE, Sporting Alert – The second round of group play in Euro 2016 begins on Wednesday with Russian Federation looking to build on the confidence earned from stealing a point against England last week.
The remaining 13 or so minutes of play were frantic as finally Slutsky’s men poured forward with urgency, but it was too little too late for them as Slovakia recorded a 2-1 win to seal their first points of the tournament.
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It ended a long and arduous search for the match opener, but only 6 minutes later West Ham midfielder Dmitri Payet hit his second of the competition to seal a precious win for Didier Deschamps’ men.
