Daily report from 16.06.2021

06/17/2021 3659

Russia have completely changed the dynamic of Group B after their narrow 1-0 victory over Finland, and despite chances galore in the opening 20 minutes for both sides, the game lacked many talking points in the end.

Russia Edge Finland

Teemu Pukki and co. have now gone from as low as 4/11 to qualify to 10/11 in some places, and considering a draw against Russia would have put one foot in the knockout rounds for Finland, it's absolutely all to play for in Group B after this one.

It was one moment of brilliance from Aleksei Miranchuk that separated the sides, as he curled a beautiful effort past Lukáš Hrádecký.

However, what will be the main issue for the Russians heading into their clash with Denmark now is the injury to CSKA Moscow star, Mário Fernandes,who now joins Yuri Zhirkov on the sidelines, meaning they are without both their main full-backs ahead of that vital clash.

The Dragons Roar in Baku Once More

Wales travelled to Baku once again and put down a serious marker on advancing out of Group A after excellent performances from their superstars, Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Daniel James.

The Real Madrid winger assisted both goals as Robert Page’s side made it four points from two games, delivering a brilliant long pass to Ramsey who took the ball down exceptionally well, before slotting home. Bale would blaze a penalty over the bar in the second half, which would have handed Wales a much-deserved 2-0 lead.

The 2-0 victory would eventually come, however, when Bale worked his magic once again with seconds to go, as he tricked the Turkey defenders into thinking he would keep the ball in the corner, only to rocket past them and gift the ball to Connor Roberts, who netted Wales' second of the game and his fourth goal for his country.

The Dragons are now all but in the knockout rounds to make it consecutive European Championships in doing, which is astonishing considering this and Euro 2016 are the only times they've been at the competition at all.

Italy Dazzle Again

In the final game of Wednesday, Italy took on Switzerland in Group A. The Italians dominated the early stages and it was met with a goal from Giorgio Chiellini, however, the captain quickly had his goal ruled out due to a handball prior to notching the ball home from close range, which forced VAR to cancel out his ninth goal for his country.

To make matters worse, Chiellini was subbed off just minutes later with an injury, ending his night early and potentially, his last-ever European Championship with Italy.

Moments later, Manuel Locatelli stormed into the box after excellent build-up play from Roberto Mancini’s men, where the deadlock was eventually broken with the Sassuolo man getting his second goal for his nation.

Locatelli would match this spark of intelligence with a wonderful goal in the second half, where the midfielder would smash the ball home from outside the box, rocketing him to the top of the goalscoring charts alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku and Patrik Schick.

Shortly after, Ciro Immobile would meet them all at the top of that list, as he netted his second goal of the tournament to make it 3-0.

Italy would ease to this 3-0 win, and in truth, they’ve oozed class throughout and have now made it 29 games unbeaten under Mancini, which only further establishes them as a serious contender at Euro 2020.