 Yeah, yeah, England were unlucky, but what about this for a save?
With England eventually taking the lead a couple of minutes after it, perhaps this didn’t quite get the attention that it truly deserved.
Having dominated for the majority of the seventy minutes up until this point, it seemed Wayne Rooney would be the man to give his side the lead in Stade Velodrome.
A Danny Rose cross was flicked to the edge of his area by a stretching Russian defender, falling invitingly for the England skipper.
Striking the ball low towards Igor Akinfeev’s right, it seemed destined to nestle in the Russian net.
But the CSKA Moscow goalkeeper was equal to it. Showing lightning-quick reflexes, he some how managed to get his right hand to the ball, clawing it upwards and on to his own cross bar. With the ball rebounding to an offside Adam Lallana, Russia were safe… for a couple of minutes at least.
Dier’s opener took some of the gloss off Akinfeev’s save, but with Russia drawing level in stoppage time, it’s now time to appreciate a save that almost certainly won’t be bettered in the next few weeks.
Take a bow, Igor, take a bow.
