adminSaint-Étienne. — Czech Republic’s Tomas Necid scored a stoppage-time penalty as they came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Croatia in a dramatic Euro 2016 Group D encounter on Friday that was interrupted due to flares thrown on the pitch. With Croatia captain Dario Srna in tears during the national anthem having returned from the funeral of his father earlier in the week, the Croatians swarmed all over the Czechs from the first whistle, with Perisic opening the scoring in the 37th minute to lead at halftime.
Croatia went 2-0 ahead as Marcelo Brozovic won the ball high up the pitch and fed it to Rakitic, who coolly chipped it over Petr Cech and into the net. Substitute Milan Skoda threw the Czechs a lifeline when he headed home Tomas Rosicky’s pass with 14 minutes left, and when referee Mark Clattenburg gave the Czechs a penalty for handball in injury time, Necid gleefully smashed the ball home.
The Croats top the group on four points with the Czechs in third with one, while second-placed Spain and bottom side Turkey meet later on Friday.
The match was held up for a number of minutes in the closing stages after several flares were thrown onto the pitch by Croatia’s fans. — Reuters.
Online Reporter