LILLE, France -- Slovakia took a huge step towards the Round of 16 with a 2-1 win that leave Russia teetering on the brink of elimination. Though after a flare was lit in the Russian end, it may be a moot point given the actions of UEFA's Disciplinary Committee, which gave them a "suspended disqualification" after the trouble in Marseille's Stade Velodrome.

It was a single flare and there was no other disturbance inside the ground but given the circumstances, it's an extra worry for Russia boss Leonid Slutsky. That said, Slutsky himself (as he had done in Marseille) refused to talk about it despite repeated questions from the assembled media.

"I was totally concentrated on the game and was only looking at the pitch," he said afterwards. "I didn't see it."

The backstreets of Lille, with their endless maze of flat-fronted terraced houses, were quiet on the walk from the train station to the Stade Pierre Mauroy. No hysteria about professional Russian hooligans here, but then again, no obvious targets on the streets either. The brand spanking new Stade Mauroy sits wedged in among shopping malls and big box stores. Both sets of fans were snacking and waiting for kickoff side by side but separate, like ingredients in a salad bowl.

Whatever doom and gloom expectations had been thrown around before the match didn't seem relevant here -- at least until the second half flare -- maybe because of the incongruity of someone laying a stadium in the midst of suburban sprawl. Or perhaps it was the French gendarmes, more tooled up than usual in gear that made some look like giant erect turtles carrying transparent riot shields.

Slutsky kept faith with the XI that grabbed the last-ditch equalizer against England and in some ways, it made sense. Having lost their opener and with England coming up next, Slovakia likely needed three points on Wednesday. There would be opportunities to soak up pressure and for Oleg Shatov to find space. But the Slovak midfield, led by Marek Hamsik and Juraj Kucka, had other plans. They held their shape, opting for balls into space for the darting Ondrej Duda and Hamsik's trademark long-range ballistics. Physically, they also more than matched the opposition.

Kucka won the ball after 10 minutes to set up Duda, who slipped it to Hamsik, only for his booming strike to sail over the crossbar. Meanwhile, Slutsky was opting to go route one: Artem Dzyuba, to be fair, was proving a handful for Martin Skrtel and Jan Durica but the support was lacking. When Dzyuba tried things himself, you were reminded that close control in tight spaces isn't his forte.

Slovakia pulled ahead in the 32nd minute, and it owed a lot to Hamsik. The Napoli midfielder received a square pass deep in his own half from Skrtel and in one fluid motion, he turned, looked up and uncorked a 50-yard, left-foot drive into space. Vladimir Weiss, who had begun his run just before Hamsik struck the ball, collected it mid-stride, veered into the box and cut on a dime, leaving Roman Neustadter and Vasily Berezutsky, the only defenders separating him from Igor Akinfeev's goal, desperately heading the wrong way. At that point, Weiss coolly slotted the ball into the back of the Russian net.

"To that point, it was all so tight and so tense, there was no space in which to play for either side," said Slovakia boss Jan Kozak afterwards. "We were only going to break the ice through an individual bit of genius and we got that from Hamsik and Weiss. They were fantastic."

On the Russian bench, Slutsky pouted in disgust and his mood would darken further just before the half. This time, it was a Hamsik solo effort. Slovakia played a quick corner short to the Napoli midfielder. Shatov came out to meet him. Hamsik faked one way and when Shatov bit on the dummy, cut sharply the other way before smashing it in off the post from an improbable angle out on the flank.

Slutsky shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair while the Slovak end erupted in jubilation. As brilliant as Hamsik's move and strike were, you have to wonder about him being left one-on-one with Shatov.

"We just lost our concentration," Slutsky said. "We knew Hamsik was dangerous. Of course we knew."

The Russian boss knew it was time for a gamble and that's what he did. Off came his central midfield partnership of Neustadter and Aleksandr Golovin; in came Pavel Mamaev. It was last-roll-of-the-dice stuff. Once again, Russia had been outclassed in the first 45 minutes. Against England, they escaped with a scoreless draw at half-time. This time, they were down two goals. Still, when questioned after the match, Slutsky would not be drawn.

"If I had to go back again I would have chosen he same lineup and the same tactics," he said. "We had a plan and it was a good one, but for it to work we needed to score first and instead they scored. It was just down to execution."

That's when Slovakia paid a price for their directness. While Russia's all-out siege left acres of space for the counterattack, when the Slovaks broke it was too often with boom-or-bust passes and possession simply reverted to the Russians. A cool head who could hold the ball up and move the entire team forward to alleviate the pressure was sorely missed.

And so Russia turned the screws. Shatov, Fedor Smolov and Mamaev (twice) all unloaded at Matus Kozacik's goal but found bodies in the way. When Russia took the aerial route, Skrtel and Durica were vigilant.

Slutsky turned to the old warrior, Roman Shirokov, who came on for the invisible Aleksandr Kokorin. The pressure mounted and, nine minutes from time, there was hope. Shatov scampered into the channel and chipped a cross for Glushakov to turn past Kozacik. This time it was the Russian end that roared into life. Someone lit a flare; whether it will have consequences remains to be seen.

The siege continued, but to no avail. Slovakia emerged 2-1 winners. This was their day. This was Hamsik's day.

"It's our first win at the Euros and we've opened up the gates to the Round of 16," he said. Then, realizing that mathematically it was not yet certain, he corrected himself. "I mean hopefully it sends us on our way," he added. "I don't want to celebrate too soon."

And then he unveiled the widest smile of all.