Dusseldorf (Germany): Ukraine had to dig deep in their second game of the Euro 2024 Group Stage as the side fought back from being 1-0 down in the first half and went on to win 2-1 at the Merkur Spiel Arena here on Friday. Slovakia continued their impressive performance which saw them defeat Belgium in their opening fixtures and came close to scoring in the 10th minute of the game had it not been for a quick reflex save made by Anatoliy Trubin.
A continuous flurry of Slovakian attacks saw Ukraine having to play a majority of the first half on the back foot. Slovakia opened the deadlock in the 17th minute of the game when a cross by Haskalin saw the ball reach Ivan Schranz who scored with a header in what was a mismatch with left back and captain Zinchenko. This was Schranz’s second goal of the tournament, tying him as the top scorer alongside Jamal Musiala with two to his name.
Ukraine did manage to trouble Martin Dubravka in the first half when Tmychyk’s attempt rattled the left goal-post in the 35th minute. The first half ended with a slender 1-0 advantage to Slovakia.
Ukraine were just 45 minutes away from possibly being eliminated from the tournament having already lost 3-0 to Romania in their opening fixture but the side flew out of the floodgates and came as a completely different team in the second period of the game.
A goal by Mykola Shaparenko tied the game and breathed life into the Ukrainian team in the 54th minute.
Shaparenko’s long ball in the 80th minute of the game was trapped by Roman Yaremchuk who went on to score the winner for Ukraine in the 80th minute. With the winner, Roman also became Ukraine’s highest-ever top scorer at the European Championship(3 goals).
Ukraine will face Poland and Romania will gear up to take on Slovakia in the team’s final group stage matches as the race for the knockouts heats up in Group E.
(IANS)
