Following its draw last week against Group B favorite England, Russia seems poised to cruise into next weekend’s knockout rounds. Denis Glushakov’s last-gasp equalizer Saturday should have generated waves of happy relief from Russian fans on hand at Stade Velodrome. After all, England dominated the game for long stretches and capitalized on just one of 15 shots on target.
The only problem? Thanks to recent fan behavior, the Ruskies might not even make it past Slovakia Wednesday.
Russian fans celebrated Saturday’s draw by firing flares, storming England supporters and wreaking general mayhem inside the stadium, an extension of the violent fan clashes that preceded the match on the streets of Marseille.