Russia recover to draw with Belarus

Russia twice came from a goal down to earn a Group 2 point against neighbours Belarus that keeps them in contention to reach the UEFA European Under-19 Championship finals.

Entertaining encounter
Both teams had opened their Elite round campaign with a draw and it was Belarus who struck first at the Sportni Park, Artsem Rakhmanau breaking the deadlock with a fine header as early as the second minute. Maksim Grigorev converted a one-on-one to bring Russia level three minutes before the half-hour before Vadzim Yerchyk restored the advantage for Siarhei Saladounikau's side 12 minutes into the second period after Russia had failed to clear a free-kick. The 69th-minute dismissal of Belarus midfielder Dzmitry Baha for a second yellow card revived Russian hopes, however, and Sergey Schumilin duly levelled eleven minutes from time after Fedor Smolov's header had been parried by Pilip Vaitsiakhovich.

'Real pity'
"It is a real pity that we did not win this game as we had several more opportunities to score a goal," said Russia coach Andrei Talalaev, with all four sides in the section level on two points ahead of Tuesday's final round of games. "Now we have a decider against the Netherlands and we are thinking only about this match." Mini-tournament hosts Slovenia are the opponents for Belarus.