(Video) Euro 2016: Slovakia seal win over Russia with Marek Hamsik playing star role

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Slovakia captain Marek Hamsik provided an assist and scored a spectacular goal in his side’s 2-1 win over Russia on Wednesday afternoon.

Following their disappointing loss to Wales in their opening game of the tournament, Slovakia would have been fully aware of the requirement to bounce back with a positive result in Lille.

Vladimir Weiss gave them the lead in the 32nd minute, with Hamsik’s fantastic pass finding him down the left hand side in behind the defence.

The forward kept his composure to cut back in onto his right foot and slotted his effort beyond Igor Akinfeev to break the deadlock. Question marks will be raised about the Russian defence, as ultimately they should of done better in denying him a shot at goal.

They doubled their lead just before half-time courtesy of this spectacular goal from Hamsik, as he collected a corner and sent a thunderous effort off the post and in.

The Napoli star has been a hugely influential figure for his side in the first two games of Euro 2016, and they will need him to repeat the trick against England in their final group game.

Having produced a contender for goal of the tournament, he will naturally now be full of confidence as he leads his men into their next game having bounced back from the Wales defeat.

However, they were made to work for their three points as Russia staged a late comeback with Denis Glushakov setting up a frantic finish.

In a rare bit of impressive play from the Russians, they were able to prise the Slovakian defence open to halve their deficit.

Despite pressing for an equaliser, they were unable to find one as they failed to produce late drama for the second game in a row following on from their draw with England. In turn, they sit bottom of Group B ahead of Wales’ clash with England on Thursday afternoon.

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