Miranchuk keeps Russia in the fray

ST PETERSBURG • Russian midfielder Aleksei Miranchuk believes that the key to winning a football match is to stay focused and keep on trying even if games are lost or opportunities are missed.

That mantra worked for him yesterday as his goal in first-half stoppage time got Russia's Euro 2020 campaign back on track as they beat Finland 1-0 in Group B at the St Petersburg Stadium.

The Russians, who remain unbeaten against the Finns since their first meeting in 1912, made amends for their opening 3-0 loss to Belgium as the group remains wide open.

"At this stage, the victory was most important. We have completed the task and are moving on. We need to capitalise on our moments," said Miranchuk. "This is a tournament that features good teams, so each moment can be a unique chance. You have to score."

Joel Pohjanpalo thought he had given the Finns the lead in the fifth minute but his powerful header was ruled out for offside after a video assistant referee (VAR) review, and the rest of the first half was played at a high tempo.

With both sides committing players in attack, Atalanta midfielder Miranchuk curled in a superb left-footed effort just before the break to put Russia in front.

Finland, who beat Denmark 1-0 at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on Saturday following Christian Eriksen's on-field collapse, threw everything they had but the Russians held on to win.

Russia captain Artem Dzyuba, standing at 1.97m, also played a big part in the victory, his country's first in seven European Championship matches after losing four of the previous six.

According to statistics compiled by the BBC, the striker won 11 aerial challenges - only Patrice Evra (17 for France v Albania in 2016) and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson (17 for Iceland v Portugal in 2016) have won more in a single Euro match since 1980.

Russia's triumph was, however, marred by a serious injury to right-back Mario Fernandes in the first half. The 30-year-old went up for a high ball in the Finland box and came down awkwardly, the back of his neck taking the full force of the landing. He needed to be stabilised and was stretchered off before being taken to hospital.

Finland 0

Russia 1

The Russian team's Twitter feed said he was undergoing tests for a suspected spinal injury.

Despite the loss, Finland coach Markku Kanerva praised his team and said they lost by a fine margin.

He added: "We defended well and going forward we improved on our display against Denmark.

"We didn't manage to score but we had shots that went narrowly wide, others were blocked. It was a really close game."

The result moves Stanislav Cherchesov's side up to second in the standings on three points, ahead of Finland thanks to the head-to-head result.

World No. 1 Belgium top the group ahead of their game against Denmark today.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE