Crowd trouble steals the headlines as the Croats collapse.
Croatia fans are watched by police
Croatia surrendered a two-goal lead against the Czech Republic in an extraordinary game yesterday to delay their progression into the knockout stages of the Euros.
The Croats were in complete control for 75 minutes and found themselves two goals to the good after excellent finishes from Ivan Perisic and Ivan Rakitic on 37 and 59 minutes, respectively.
Trouble arrived following the withdrawal of star man Luke Modric with a slight knock on the 62nd minute and the game slowly began to slip from the grasp of Ante Cacic’s men.
Milan Skoda pulled one back for the Czechs with a fine header on 75 minutes and set the stage for a Czech onslaught for the remainder of the game.
Crowd trouble brought a halt to the game in the dying stages with Croatian fans throwing flares and firecrackers on to the pitch in an incident that only seemed to damage their team’s concentration further.
A Czech equaliser seemed inevitable and it duly came via the spot on 89 minutes after Domagoj Vida inexplicably handled the ball inside his area, leaving Tomas Necid to find the net from 12 yards.
We’ve provided a selection of the best photos from yesterday’s game below:
Czech Republic’s Milan Skoda in action with Croatia’s Mateo Kovacic
Czech Republic’s Tomas Necid in action with Croatia’s Danijel Subasic and Vedran Corluka
Stewards deal with flares that have been thrown onto the pitch
Czech Republic’s Tomas Necid celebrates after scoring their second goal
Croatia fans are watched by police
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