Dozens of Russian fans charged at England supporters inside the stadium immediately after the final whistle of their 1-1 draw in the Euro 2016 Group B match in Marseille on Saturday.
A stoppage-time goal by Vasili Berezutski, helped over the line by Denis Glushakov, gave Russia an unlikely draw after Eric Dier appeared to have won the game for England.
An entertaining game at the Stade Vélodrome between the two European heavyweights was however marred by clashes at the end of the game.
Russian supporters grabbed flags and threw projectiles, forcing panicked England fans to clamber over barriers as stewards looked on, a Reuters witness said.
The trouble was the latest chapter in three days and nights of disorder in the city with officials braced for more as the supporters, plus another 80,000 from the fan zone, converge on the Old Port area.
The English were on top for most of the game, producing a performance of verve and confidence that belied the youth of the squad, and were well worth the lead earned by Dier’s brilliant free kick from the edge of the box after 73 minutes.
Vast swathes of England fans filling most of the 67,000 stadium seats were acclaiming the win only for captain Berezutski to leap above Danny Rose and loop a header beyond Joe Hart that substitute Glushakov touched, seemingly over the line, although organisers UEFA awarded the skipper the goal.
“I think we played very well the whole game and to give away the draw like that at the end is very disappointing,” said Dier.
“We didn’t see it out in the right way but we didn’t lose.
“We have got to pick ourselves up and go again. I thought our level was extremely high…we did everything right.”
The equaliser meant England have failed to win their opening game in any of their nine appearances at the European Championship and puts Wales in pole position.
Their British neighbour got the better of Slovakia in the group’s other game played earlier.
Gareth Bale got Wales’ campaign off to a perfect start with an early goal before substitute Hal Robson-Kanu struck a late winner as they beat Slovakia 2-1.
Robson-Kanu’s 81st minute strike cancelled Ondrej Duda’s equaliser for the Slovaks.
“What an experience,” said manager Chris Coleman, whose side will now go into Thursday’s second match against neighbours England on a high.
