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

Compared to the sickening scenes of violence leading up to the game and in the stands after the final whistle, the concession of a stoppage-time equaliser pales into insignificance.

It will not change the wider narrative, which will rightly focus on the shocking return of widespread disorder.

It will not matter a jot to the family of the England supporter fighting for his life in hospital after he was attacked in Marseille hours before kick-off.

And it should not 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.

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 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 bar, 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.

Russia had not 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.

ENGLAND (4-1-2-3): Hart 6; Walker 8, Cahill 7, Smalling 7, Rose 6; Dier 8; Alli 7, Rooney 8 (Wilshere 6, 77); Lallana 7, Kane 6, Sterling 5 (Milner 87). Not used: Forster, Heaton, Clyne, Stones, Bertrand, Henderson, Barkley, Vardy, Sturridge, Rashford.

RUSSIA (4-2-3-1): Akinfeev 7; Smolnikov 5, Ignashevich 6, V Berezutski 7, Schennikov 6; Neustadter 5, Golovin 6; Smolov 5 (Mamaev 85), Shatov 5 (Shirokov 77), Kokorin 5; Dzyuba 5. Not used: Lodygin (gk), Guilherme (gk), Shishkin, A Berezutski, Yusupov, Glushakov, Ivanov, Samedov, Torbinski, Kombarov.