Our man in Marseille, Scott Wilson, discusses the talking points from England's Euro 2016 draw with Russia – on and off the field...

IT felt like a disaster, but it was only a game.

Compared to the sickening scenes of violence that had preceded it for the previous two days in Marseille – and the sight of England supporters literally running for their lives as Russian fans broke through the flimsiest of security cordons after the final whistle in the Stade Velodrome – the concession of a stoppage-time equaliser pales into insignificance.

It won’t change the wider narrative, which will rightly focus on the shocking return of widespread disorder and the potential implications for both England and Russia if this weekend’s scenes are repeated in the remainder of Euro 2016.

It won’t matter a jot to the family of the England supporter fighting for his life in hospital after he was attacked in Marseille’s Vieux Port four or five hours before kick-off. And it shouldn’t cause too much hurt when England’s reputation as a footballing nation is once again being dragged through the gutter.

Yet on a thoroughly miserable weekend, England’s failure to close out a game they dominated from first minute to last seemed to accentuate the wretchedness of everything that was going on around it. Even the sole positive note from a dreadful few days proved frustratingly out of reach.

“I have the same feeling as the players – to say we are bitterly disappointed would be an under-statement,” said England boss Roy Hodgson.

“To get that close to a victory I believe would have been a fully-deserved one, and then to lose it with one minute of injury-time remaining, is a tough pill to swallow.

“That’s what happens in football – one doesn’t have a divine right not to concede a goal at any stage. They scored a very good goal from their point of view, but that doesn’t make it easier for us to feel good about it.

“When we analyse the game, there will be a lot of things that we will want to take forwards. Hopefully, we will be able to put the pain of this last-minute goal behind us.”

Vasili Berezutski’s stoppage-time header means England have still never won their opening game at a European Championships, and you suspect they might not get many better opportunities than this.

The opening 45 minutes was as good as England have played at a major tournament for a long time, but there was always a nagging concern that Hodgson’s side could pay for an inability to take their chances.

Eric Dier’s superb 74th-minute free-kick finally enabled them to claim the lead, and as the clock ticked into stoppage-time, there appeared little of concern. One failure to adequately deal with a routine cross from the left, though, and the ball was sailing over Joe Hart’s head and into the net.

It was a cruel blow, especially when posited against the vibrancy of England’s play for much of the night. Having been pigeon-holed as a conservative manager, Hodgson released the shackles completely with Wayne Rooney and Dele Alli forming an effective central-midfield partnership in front of Dier, who excelled as a defensive shield.

Rooney in particular was a revelation, controlling things from his deep-lying position and regularly switching the play with a series of raking long-range passes that generally found their target. Having also impressed in the FA Cup final, the 30-year-old is rapidly answering all questions about his capabilities in midfield.

With Danny Rose and Kyle Walker constantly looking to forge on from their full-back berths, there was a pleasing tempo to England’s attacking, particularly in the first half, with Adam Lallana justifying his position in the starting line-up with some neat passes and intricate build-up play, often involving Walker and Alli.

The two exceptions to the general effectiveness were Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane, with the former infuriating as he ran down a series of blind alleys and the latter struggling to find any space beyond a well-drilled Russian defence.

Sterling remains an enigma, capable of doing some difficult things brilliantly and some easy things abysmally, often in the same move. His pace should be a major weapon, but he rarely utilises it effectively – there are obvious parallels with Theo Walcott there – and he will be fortunate to retain his place when England take on group leaders Wales on Thursday.

That game has now assumed huge importance, but it might not have been so crucial had Lallana taken one of the two first-half chances that came his way or Rooney not shot straight at Igor Akinfeev when well placed on the edge of the area shortly before the break.

Rooney thought he had scored in the 71st minute, only for Akinfeev to produce a brilliant save as he tipped the skipper’s shot onto the crossbar, but England did not have to wait much longer for a breakthrough.

Stepping up to a free-kick 20 yards out, Dier whipped a superb strike past Akinfeev’s right hand. It was the midfielder’s second England goal, following the winner in March’s friendly with Germany, and was a superior effort to Gareth Bale’s set-piece strike earlier in the day.

Finally ahead, England became caught between two stools, unsure whether to push on for a second goal or retreat into a more robust defensive shape. Hodgson’s decision to replace Rooney with Jack Wilshere didn’t really help, as it robbed his side of its leader and seemed to spread further uncertainty about the tactical plan for the remainder of the game.

“I thought Wayne had a good game, but I thought he was tiring,” said the England boss. “I thought Jack Wilshere could give us the same control in there that Wayne did, and I thought he did a good job.

“Of course, afterwards you can look at things and wonder if you could have used more subs or done a bit more. Who knows? But we didn’t look like we were in any difficulty, and I thought we would see the game out at 1-0.”

Russia hadn’t threatened to produce a grandstand finish prior to stoppage time, but when Georgi Schennikov crossed, Rose became caught under the ball and Berezutski outjumped him to head home.

That was the cue for the shocking scenes at the final whistle, with hundreds of Russian fans breaking out of the area they were housed in to attack the English supporters sitting in the same stand.

Panic ensued, with the England contingent desperately trying to get out of harm’s way, but finding themselves unable to exit the stand. A large number were crushed against a supporting barrier, and at least two required hospital treatment after being struck in the melee.

It was a dreadful end to a dreadful weekend. Goodness only knows what lies in wait in Lens.