Flares disrupt Croatia-Czech Republic draw

A 94th-minute penalty rescued a point for the Czech Republic in their dramatic 2-2 draw with Croatia as flares thrown onto the pitch marred Friday's Euro 2016 match.

With Croatia 2-1 up and with one foot in the last 16, referee Mark Clattenberg briefly halted play late in the game when flares thrown by Croatian fans landed on the pitch in Saint-Etienne.

When the match resumed, Croatia defender Domagoj Vida was penalised for handball and Tomas Necid drilled home the resulting penalty, deep in added time, to claim their first point in Group D.

UEFA are poised to impose further sanctions on the Croatian Football Federation for the crowd trouble. Croatia were stripped of one point in qualifying and fined 100,000 euros by UEFA after a swastika was painted on the field before a match against Italy in June 2015 in Split.

A member of the ground staff at the Stade Geoffrey Guichard appeared to have been hit by a flare.

Croatia were cruising towards the last 16 after their two Ivans -- Rakitic and Perisic -- netted either side of the break.

But Czech replacement Milan Skoda pulled one back before fellow replacement Necid's dramatic spot-kick.

The fightback gives the Czech Republic a realistic chance of making the knock-out stages if they win their final group game against Turkey.