Croatia and England draw 0-0 in Nations League tie

IANS  |  Rijeka (Croatia) 

runners-up and the team they beat to reach the final, England, played to a 0-0 draw in a Nations League match.

It was the second of two official home matches had to play behind closed doors as punishment from for an incident in 2015 when a swastika was marked on the pitch in Split before an European against Italy, reports news.

The contest looked more like a meaningless friendly than a battle to determine which of the two teams would stake a claim to second place in 4, where sit in first place with 6 points from two matches.

The determined England supporters who climbed a hill near the stadium to view the match could be forgiven for concluding that their efforts had been wasted.

Croatia's sole scoring chance of the first half came when Josip Pivanic's cross found alone in front of goal, only for the forward to fire the ball into the hands of keeper

England's got his head to Jordan Henderson's corner near the end of the first half, but his shot hit the post.

Ivan Perisic's shot early in the second half forced a save from Pickford, while Harry Kane's header bounced off the cross-bar.

squandered a chance from 11 yards out before testing Croatia keeper two minutes later with a tremendous strike.

The result leaves each team with just 1 point from two matches, though the Three Lions have an advantage on goal difference.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sat, October 13 2018. 13:20 IST