Staff Reporter.
@EURO2020.
Russia secured their first win of Euro 2020 with a hard-fought victory over Finland in St Petersburg.
Aleksey Miranchuk put the hosts ahead in first-half injury time with a fine, curling finish, despite being surrounded by defenders.
Finland would have qualified for the last 16 with a win and thought they had opened the scoring, but Joel Pohjanpalo’s header was ruled out for offside.
The result leaves both sides on three points before their final Group B matches on Monday.
Finland, competing in their first major finals,won 1-0 against Denmark on Saturday in a match overshadowed by Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsing on the pitch.
Before Wednesday’s game, all the Finnish squad wore T-shirts saying ‘Get well Christian’.
Eriksen is currently recovering in hospital after suffering cardiac arrest.
Meanwhile Austria forward Marko Arnautovic has been suspended by Uefa for one match after being found guilty of “insulting another player” in Sunday’s Euro 2020 win over North Macedonia.
Arnautovic, who has Serbian heritage, had to be restrained by captain David Alaba as he celebrated his late goal.
He appeared to direct comments at opponents Egzon Bejtulai and Gjanni Alioski, who have Albanian roots.
The 32-year-old was found guilty of misconduct, with Uefa not considering his actions to be discriminatory.
Arnautovic, who was born in Austria and has a Serbian father, apologised for his goal celebration in a post on Instagram.
He wrote: “There were some heated words yesterday in the emotions of the game for which I would like to apologise, especially to my friends from North Macedonia and Albania.
“I would like to say one thing very clearly: I am not a racist.
“I have friends in almost every country and I stand for diversity. Everyone who knows me is aware of that.”
Serbia does not recognise the independence of its former province Kosovo, while there is historic tension between Serbia and North Macedonia.
Austria’s next game is against the Netherlands at the Johan Cruyff arena on Thursday, while North Macedonia face Ukraine.