Russia managed to salvage a 1-1 draw in their opening Group H World Cup fixture against South Korea thanks to a late strike from Aleksandr Kerzhakov.
Lee Keun-Ho's second half striker resulting from a big blunder by Igor Akinfeev was cancelled by Kerzhakov after six minutes, rescuing a point for Russia.
Despite dominating possession in the opening quarter of the game, the Koreans were unable to create many chances as Russia were pretty organised at the back.
The first real chance of the game came at the half hour mark when Sergei Ignashevich powered a 40-yard free-kick towards goal. Despite the distance, South Korea goalkeeper looked very uncomfortable as he parried the ball to safety.
The game started opening up towards the latter part of the first half as both teams managed to create some chances. While Yuri Zhirkov wasted a very good chance from Alexander Kokorin's hard work, Koo Ja-Cheol's deflected 20-yard effort was only inches wide of the left post.
The second half started with both sides keen to break the deadlock as they started launching fresh waves of attacks on each other's defences.
With only 27 seconds into the second half, Viktor Fayzulin forced a very good save out of Jung before Vasili Berezutskiy failed to find the nets from the resulting corner.
At the other end, South Korea also manage to force some saves from Akinfeev through Ki Sung-yeung and Kim Young-gwon .
The Russian goalkeeper, who looked very uncomfortable on both occasions, finally made a big blunder as South Korea broke the deadlock in the 68th minute.
Lee fired a powerful 25 yard effort straight at Akinfeev, who should have collected the ball with relative ease. However, the 28-year-old Russian spilled Lee's effort and the ball went over the line.
Fabio Capello brought in Kerzhakov in search for an immediate response and the striker did exactly that as he levelled the scores in the 74th minute.
Another substitute Alan Dzagoev tested Jung with a low effort but the South Korean goalkeeper could only palm the ball in a crowded six-yard box. As the Korean defence failed to clear the ball, Kerzhakov reacted quickly as he stabbed the ball past Jung.
Check out the highlights of the match below:
