Slovakia revitalized their European campaign with a strong showing in a 2-1 win over Russia in Lille.
Ján Kozák‘s men held all the cards after a strong first-half, with an opening goal from Vladimir Weiss and a fantastic strike from Marek Hamšík putting the Falcons two up leading into halftime.
Russia pulled one back through a Denis Glushakov header with 10 minutes to play, but Slovakia withstood the attempted comeback to secure a vital three points.
We take a look at how each player performed on the pitch in this intriguing battle:
READ MORE: Euro 2016 – What We Learned – Slovakia 2 Russia 1
Russia
Igor Akinfeev – 6.5: Making several saves look routine, Akinfeev was only beaten by two well placed shots, capping off a rather average team performance.
Igor Smolnikov – 5.5: Despite being an asset up front, the defender often pushed too far up and left Russia with three at the back, leading to Weiss’ goal.
Georgi Schennikov – 5: Had a competent match, not making any fantastic stops but no real blunders either.
Sergei Ignashevich – 5.5: A decent showing from the backline, this defender was unfortunate not to shutdown either of Slovakia’s goals.
Vasili Berezutski – 5.5: The Russian captain provided a late game option up front, pushing up higher as Russia sought an equalizer, but failed to make any significant impact.
Roman Neustädter – 4.5: Had a poor showing in the first-half before being taken off during the break, failed to get strength behind passes and left Russia scrambling in the backline.
Aleksandr Golovin – 5: Had a quiet match in the midfield before being brought off during halftime.
Aleksandr Kokorin – 4: Killed a number of attacks as a result of his poor passing or control. Was taken off after 75 minutes.
Oleg Shatov – 6: Despite working hard to create options in the box, Shatov made a mess of any set pieces he was given. A late assist was a reasonable achievement for the player.
Fyodor Smolov – 5: With solid technical work, Smolov failed to utilize it, wasting numerous shots as he could not give Russia the impact they needed.
Artem Dzyuba – 4: Had some solid positioning early on, but was basically invisible for the majority of the game, being marked out by the Slovakian defence.
Substitutes
Denis Glushakov – 7: Brought on at halftime and was the only saving grace for the Russians with a wonderful 79th minute goal.
Pavel Mamayev – 6: Also brought on at the interval, but had a quiet match in the midfield.
Roman Shirokov – 5.5: Introduced with 15 minutes to play and failed to make any real impact.
Slovakia’s form in 2016:
DDWWDLW
Goals: 11
Conceded: 7
Clean sheets: 2Dark horse potential pic.twitter.com/bQduJ3Ji5l
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) June 15, 2016
Slovakia
Matúš Kozáčik – 6.5: Spent most of the match unchallenged by the Russian offense, only conceding late on.
Peter Pekarík – 6.5: Created numerous options on the right-flank, the Slovakian defender was a vital part of their forward momentum.
Martin Škrtel – 7: The Slovakian captain lead by example, ensuring Dzyuba was only a small threat to their side with some impressive marking and defensive work.
Ján Ďurica – 6.5: Despite being booked just after halftime, the defender did enough to shutdown any Russian attacks that came his way.
Tomáš Hubočan – 6: Had a quiet match, but performed well whenever he was required.
Viktor Pečovský – 7: Built up several chances in the midfield and inked up with the Slovakian frontline very well, crafting numerous options to release the ball to.
Juraj Kucka – 6.5: Had a quiet outing, but rarely put a foot wrong when on the ball.
Marek Hamšík – 9.5: With a fantastic pass to set up Weiss’ goal and a beautifully placed shot to score Slovakia’s second, Hamšík was a class apart from the rest of the field with an inspired performance.
Róbert Mak – 6.5: Mak had a rather subdued match up front, with any chances he had being dealt with rather simply by the Russian defence. Taken off after 79 minutes to bring on Michal Ďuriš.
Vladimir Weiss – 8: Constantly putting himself in open space for 72 minutes before his substitution, Weiss was eventually rewarded with his 31st minute goal, which was capped off with some great technical control.
Ondrej Duda – 7: The Legia Warsaw player ran himself all over the park, creating large gaps for Slovakia to exploit before being taken off after 66 minutes.
Substitutes
Adam Nemec – 5.5: Replaced Duda and had limited opportunities as Slovakia found themselves defending more and more towards the end of the match.
Dušan Švento – 5.5: Brought on after 72 minutes and failed to make any significant impact.
Michal Ďuriš – 5.5: Had no influence in the closing stages of the match.
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