Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 De Bruyne has a shot from outside the area well saved by Trubin! Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 Sudakov whips in a cross to Yaremchuk, but he is offside. Taylor blows his whistle for half-time. Ukraine 0-0 Belgium Quote
Administrator Stan Posted June 26 Author Administrator Posted June 26 Think Belgium need to bring Trossard off. The switch didn't work with Doku midway through the half. Need to find a way to get Tielemans and De Bruyne more space in midfield. Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 This young Ukrainian team have had a pretty decent 1st half. They've man marked Belgium's danger men very well. They've cut out a lot of dangerous balls from Belgium and Ukraine have created plenty of chances themselves. But they just need to be more clinical upfront. Yaremchuk should have gone for a shot at goal with that big chance, instead of going for the pass. All in all, Ukraine have had a great shape about their team today. Their defence has frustrated Belgium and allowed Ukraine to attack themselves, with their speed and passing ability. Quote
Administrator Stan Posted June 26 Author Administrator Posted June 26 Ukraine the better team in the half. Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 Big blow this, it looks like Mykolenko has gotten injured again. He's played very well today. Zinchenko will come on and replace him. Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 Great tackle by Tymchyk, but he picks up an injury in the process. Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 Ukraine making a triple change here! Shaparenko, Yaremchuk and Brazhko are all being brought off, while Malinovskyi, Vanat and Stepanenko are brought on for Ukraine. Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 So the young striker Vanat is partnering Dovbyk upfront now. Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 Carrasco has a powerful shot excellently saved by Trubin! Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 Dovbyk should have passed to Vanat who was in space, but he decides to go in alone. Bad decision there. Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 Dovbyk shoots but it goes narrowly wide of the near post and hits the side netting! Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 It's a shame that Mudryk and Tsyhankov were injured for this game, but Ukraine have given a decent enough performance. They just need to take their chances. Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 Malinovskyi had a shot at the near post from a corner which almost went in, but Casteels saved! Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 Malinovskyi leathered that ball with a shot and he has flattened Castagne. Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 (edited) It's all over, it finishes 0-0. As expected, it finished 1-1 between Slovakia and Romania, meaning Ukraine are out, even thought they got 4 points from this group. Ultimately, Ukraine's opening game loss to Romania proved critical. Their following performances against Slovakia and Belgium were much improved. Ukraine were the better team against both these sides, but they are out. Having key players like Mudryk and Tsyhankov injured for this game, was something Ukraine couldn't afford, but they still performed very well without those 2 key players. Mykolenko had a great game today, even though he had to go out injured again. Ukraine created chances today, but in the end they didn't find the back of the net. But they were the youngest team in the tournament and I think they have a lot to build on. I think Rebrov should use the 3 man defence more often, because they have the attacking quality to still create chances. But it wasn't to be today. Ukraine 0-0 Belgium Edited June 26 by Michael Quote
Moderator Tommy Posted June 26 Moderator Posted June 26 What a shame for Ukraine to go out like that. 4 points not being enough, while it would have been in other groups. They were close to beating Belgium at times today. Quote
Redcanuck Posted June 26 Posted June 26 Thank God the Group Stage ends today. It's been tedious watching the last few days. Hope fully every team that advanced will up their game now we are in the knockout rounds. I can't believe how the bracket is falling in England's favour, if Czechia beat Turkey only Italy of the so called top teams are on their side of the bracket. Hopefully now England will play up to their potential. Quote
Michael Posted June 26 Posted June 26 3 hours ago, Tommy said: What a shame for Ukraine to go out like that. 4 points not being enough, while it would have been in other groups. They were close to beating Belgium at times today. Yeah, they were so close today, they played really well and created many chances, but the end product wasn't there. I think Rebrov should have played with 3 at the back from the start of the competition. Ukraine hardly concede when they play with 3 central defenders, but at the same time they are able to create chances because of the creative players in midfield and attack. Ukraine created plenty of chances against Belgium, with a 3 man defence, so it's not as if it weakens their attack. Moreover, Ukraine created scoring opportunities without 2 of their best creative players, Mudryk and Tsyhankov who were injured. But Tommy, it's ultimately that opening day loss to Romania that cost them qualification. Had they played with a 3 man defence, I am convinced they wouldn't have lost against Romania. Because with a 2 man central defence, they were troubled by the Romanians and even in Ukraine's win over Slovakia, the Slovakian attack troubled the Ukraine defence early on. That wasn't the case today, as I felt really confident watching the strength of the Ukrainian defence today. With that 3 man defence in front of the excellent Trubin in goal, it's extremely difficult to score against Ukraine. Tsyhankov has been injured for most of these Euros, but Mudryk unfortunately picked up his injury training in the gym apparently. That's was just rotten luck for Ukraine, because Mudryk and Tsyhankov are such important players for Ukraine. Another observation today was that there's no substitute for Mykolenko at left-back, because Mykolenko is simply much better than Zinchenko in that position. Mykolenko had a very strong game today, before he got injured again and had to go off. Other positives that I got from this Ukraine team at these Euros, is the emergence of Shaparenko as a classy play-maker and that he can come up with the goods at this level. Shaparenko was the man of the match against Slovakia with his goal and then his assist for Yaremchuk, to score Ukraine's 2nd goal. Shaparenko again had a strong performance against Belgium. He showed a lot of creativity and he had a high work-rate as well. Another player that stood out was Brazhko in the holding midfield area. His strength, work-rate and passing ability make him the ideal ball winning midfielder for Ukraine. Brazhko will replace the veterans Stepanenko and Sydorchuk in that position for Ukraine for years to come. His tackling and ball winning ability was admirable against both Slovakia and against Belgium today. Sudakov will only get better, his impressive dribbling skills and creativity were evident at times at these Euros. But with more experience, he will find the end product with more regularity. Dovbyk was heavily marked at these Euros in every match. He was the player that opposition managers targeted by heavily marking him. But Dovbyk, generally speaking, held the ball up and did well under the circumstances. Yaremchuk showed his quality with his winning goal against Slovakia, but some of his decision making today was questionable. Yaremchuk is one of the most unselfish forwards, but really he should look to be more selfish in front of goal. Zabarnyi showed what a good defender he is and as for the goalkeeper position, well Trubin was excellent in both the Slovakia match and the game against Belgium. Lunin didn't have a great game against Romania and that cost him his place in the next 2 matches against Slovakia and Belgium. Lunin is rated by most as the better keeper, but I actually think that Trubin is probably better. Trubin is a giant of a man at nearly 2 meter tall and he has to be one of the best shot stoppers in the business. He is also good at claiming crosses and his height helps with that. Either way, Ukraine have the luxury of having 2 young world class goalkeepers to choose from. Quote
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