RUSSIA AND CROATIA are deadlocked at 1-1 at the half-way mark in their World Cup quarter-final clash.
The host nation of the tournament snatched the lead on 36 minutes with a stunning strike from Denis Cheryshev.
After playing a nice one-two with Artem Dzyuba, Cheryshev fired a shot from distance and rattled the roof of the Croatian net to give his side the lead.
It was his fourth goal of the tournament and it put Russia in a brilliant position coming into the final stages of the first half.
Russia 1-0 Croatia - Denis Cheyshev gives Russia the lead with an absolute screamer of a goal #rtesoccer #worldcup #RUS #CRO pic.twitter.com/VSLot4ljlB
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 7, 2018
But within six minutes, Croatia found their equaliser as they pounced on some poor defending to level the tie through Andrej Kramaric.
Mario Mandzukic found himself completely unmarked and in acres of space down Russia’s right-hand side.
After racing down along that channel, he popped the ball across into the penalty area where Kramarić was waiting to head it home and put Croatia right back in the contest.
Russia 1-1 Croatia - Andrej Kramaric levels things up as he takes advantage of some awful Russian defending to head home. #rtesoccer #worldcup #RUS #CRO pic.twitter.com/vi8gxMgIum
— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 7, 2018
The second half of the quarter-final has just started.
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