Things not to do after being threatened with disqualification for the behaviour of your fans: 1. Let off a flare in the stadium. 2. See 1.
Russian supporters have taken ‘no one likes us, we don’t care’ through to its natural conclusion, smuggling a flare past stadium security for the second straight game in the European Championships.
And when Denis Glushakov scored to halve the deficit against Slovakia, we saw it deployed.
This was despite UEFA warning the country’s Football Association that a repeat of the scenes at the Stade Velodrome could see their team kicked out of the competition.
Another Russian flare is revealed as the team pulls a goal back. Astonishing that it has been smuggled #rus pic.twitter.com/v1iQ6JJz8z
— Ian Herbert (@ianherbs) June 15, 2016
Glushakov’s goal was not enough to earn Russia a point after first-half goals from Slovakia’s Vladimir Weiss and Marek Hamšík, meaning they will almost certainly need to beat Wales to progress to the knockout stages.
The Slovaks, meanwhile, have their fate in their own hands after picking up their first ever European Championships win.
Russian fans remain at the centre of violence in Lille, though there have been no reports of trouble inside Stade Metropole.
Bars in Lille city centre have been closed by police, while there is an alcohol ban in place in Lille and Lens, where England play Wales on Thursday.
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