Ukraine beat Slovakia (1-2) this Friday on the second day of Group E of Euro 2024 at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf, in a match in which they managed to turn around Schranz’s initial goal thanks to the goals from Shaparenko and the Valencian Yaremchuk, thus fully getting into the fight for a place in the round of 16 of the tournament. If Group E seemed like one of the most uncertain after the results of the first day, in which Ukraine and Belgium, a priori favorites, were defeated, now, after the victory of the Ukrainians, it is even more so. The victory puts Rebrov’s team squarely in the fight for qualification, as they are level on points with Slovakia and Romania with one game remaining. A result that puts pressure on the Belgian team, which will face its match against the Romanians this Saturday with the need to score, since it is the only team in Group E that has not done so. The match started with a surprise in the Ukrainian goal, which did not include Real Madrid player Andriy Lunin; His poor performance in the match against Romania caused Rebrov to initially bet on Trubin. And it took only 10 minutes for the Benfica goalkeeper to agree with the Ukrainian coach. In his first intervention, he stuck out his right foot to prevent the goal from Haraslin, who had taken a low shot from inside the area. Just a minute later, his save would be even more creditable, rejecting a volley from Schranz’s six-yard box at point-blank range. But they wouldn’t be the only ones. In the 16th minute he had to intervene again to stop a great free-kick by Hancko, who was looking for the right corner in what would be the prelude to the first goal of the game. In the next play, a mistake by the Ukrainian defense in a throw-in ended in a cross to the far post from the left side of Haraslin that was headed in by Schranz, who caught Trubin on the wrong foot, who could do nothing on this occasion. . To find Ukraine’s first dangerous approach in the match we had to wait until the 27th minute, when Dovbyk received a ball inside the Slovakian area and, after cutting off a defender, he shot at goal, but his shot was intercepted by Vavro, who He sent it to the corner. And the clearest one in a Ukrainian key came five minutes later when, after a great intertwined play between Yarmolenko and Dovbyk, the ball fell to Tymchyk, who with a low crossed shot, crashed the ball into the right post of the Slovakian goal. The Ukrainian siege would continue until the end of the first half, with another great chance in the boots of Mudryk who, after winning a race against his pair, stood one-on-one against Dubravka, but instead of finishing he looked for the pass to Dovbyk, a delivery that was cleared by Skriniar. And so, with Ukraine on the rise but not taking advantage of their opportunities, both teams went to the locker room. Nothing changed during the restart. Ukraine returned from the break with the sole intention of equalizing the match as soon as possible, and before the 10-minute restart they already achieved it. The tie came after a great play on the left wing that ended with a low cross from Zinchenko at the penalty spot, seeking the arrival of Shaparenko from the second line who, with a shot at the short post with his left leg, managed to beat Dubravka and place the 1-1 on the scoreboard. The goal woke up Slovakia, who little by little equalized the match with intensity, even disturbing the Ukrainian goal on occasion. However, the next dangerous approach of the match would once again be Ukraine; In a counterattack commanded by Valencia striker Yaremchuk, who had replaced Dovbyk a few minutes earlier, he assisted Mudryk, who shot from a very low angle with his left foot to end up crashing the ball into the right post of Dubravka’s goal. Ukraine continued to grow in the game and the comeback would not take long to complete. In the 80th minute, Yaremchuk received a great delivery from Shaparenko behind Skriniar on the right side of the inside of the area, and, after fantastic control and Dubravka’s failure to exit, he managed to put the tip of his right boot in to beat the Slovakian goalkeeper and put the score at 1-2. Ukraine thus managed to turn around a match that had become more complicated than expected. There was still the final stretch of the match, and the Slovaks were not going to give up. In fact, the goal against them spurred Calzona’s team, who, in an attack of pride, went for the tie. However, despite the fact that they prowled the Ukrainian area until the final whistle, even having several dangerous set pieces, the scoreboard would not move, consummating the Ukrainian victory. DATA SHEET. –RESULT: SLOVAKIA, 1 – UKRAINE, 2 (1-0, at halftime). –ALIGNMENTS. SLOVAKIA: Dubravka; Pekarik, Vavro, Skriniar, Hancko (Obert, min.67); Kucka, Lobotka, Duda (Benes, min.60); Schranz (Sauer, min.86), Bozenik (Strelerc, min.60) and Haraslin (Suslov, min.67). UKRAINE: Trubin; Tymchyk, Zabarnyi, Matviienko, Zinchenko; Shaparenko (Talovierov, min.92), Brazhko (Sydorchuk, min.85), Sudakov; Yarmolenko (Zubkov, min.67), Dovbyk (Yaremchuk, min.67) and Mudryk (Malinovsky, min.85). –GOALS: 1-0, min.17: Schranz. 1-1, min.54: Shaparenko. 1-2, min.80: Yaremchuk. –REFEREE: Michael Oliver (ENG). He cautioned Yaremchuk (min.84) for Ukraine. –STADIUM: Merkur Spiel-Arena (Düsseldorf), 43,910 spectators.
