Russia fought back to earn a 1-1 draw with South Korea at the World Cup, after poor goalkeeping from Igor Akinfeev.
The CSKA Moscow keeper tried to catch a goal-bound effort from substitute Lee Keun-Ho but it bounced off his hands and into the net on 68 minutes to hand Korea the lead at the Arena Pantanal.
Aleksandr Kerzhakov played the role of super-sub by coming to Akinfeev’s and Russia’s rescue six minutes later. Tucking away an equaliser just three minutes after coming on, taking advantage of a scramble in the box created by a dangerous ball in from another substitute Alan Dzagoev. It was his 26th goal, which ties him for the nation’s all-time goal-scoring record with Vladimir Beschastnykh.
Russia had more possession in the early stages, however, too many errors made them vulnerable on the counter-attack.
South Korea had the best chance of the opening 25 minutes, when Bayer Leverkusen forward Son Heung-Min went on a run from midfield to the edge of the area, only to shoot his shot high and wide.
The Russians set out to implement their banal style synonymous to Capello-coached sides, as they tried to pass their way around the Korean defence.
However, Russia began to create chances as the game began to open up few minutes into the second half.