[1]Russia moved a step closer to the quarterfinals of Euro 2012 after they held co-hosts Poland to a 1-1 draw in their Group A pool match Tuesday in Warsaw's National Stadium.
Alan Dzagoev headed home his third goal of the tournament in the 37th minute from an inswinging freekick by Andrei Arshavin as the Russians, celebrating their national day, looked to build on an opening 4-1 thrashing of the Czech Republic.
But 12 minutes after the restart the Poles produced a brilliant equaliser as Jakub Blaszczykowski smashed home a curling left-footed effort which flew past Vyacheslav Malafeev in the Russian goal.
Ludovic Obraniak played Blaszczykowski in and the Polish skipper, who plays for German champions Borussia Dortmund, sent home an unstoppable effort which had an already raucous crowd on their feet.
The Poles had earlier had a goal chalked off when Eugen Polanski's 18th-minute effort was disallowed for offside as he moved onto a through ball from Robert Lewandowski.
The Russians now lead the group with four points from two games to three for the Czech Republic - earlier 2-1 winners over Greece - with Poland on two and Greece just one.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/russia-polecjpgcropdisplayjpg-594