Goals from Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk gave Ukraine a vital 2-1 victory over Northern Macedonia on Thursday afternoon, which let Igor Angelovski’s side out of Euro 2020 in the process.
Quite predictably, Ukraine created most of the goal-scoring opportunities and finally beat the deadlock by 29 minutes a day. Alexander Karavaev casually tossed a corner for a wide-eyed Yarmolenko to knock in without resistance at the far post. Andriy Shevchenko’s side then doubled their lead five minutes later, when Yarmolenko hit the ball to Yaremchuk, who finished nicely in Stole Dimitrievski’s near post.
8️⃣ passes to chop #MKD open? 1️⃣ cool finish to extend the lead?
Yaremchuk finishes a fantastic floating move with aplomb – and #UKR is in cruise control now? #UKRMKD | #ITVFotboll | # Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/0u4dJe9cWa
– ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 17, 2021
Northern Macedonia thought they had pulled one back through a beautiful Goran Pandev bucket over the goalkeeper, just for the lineman’s flag to ruin the party.
However, the Underdogs found a way past Ukraine ten minutes into the second half after Pandev was most alert in the box and drifted in front of Karavaev before being cut off from the back. Ezgjan Alioski stepped up and despite missing the original spot kick, he was able to convert the return.
You must feel for Buschan there! ?
#UKR goalkeeper makes two sensational saves – one from the penalty spot – before Alioski fires the return?
???? ??! # UKRMKD | #ITVFotboll | # Euro2020 pic.twitter.com/VnV0jWETS5
– ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 17, 2021
There was even more drama in the 84th minute when VAR examined Ruslan Malinovskyi’s free kick and ruled it had hit the arm of substitute Daniel Avramovski in the wall. The referee then awarded Ukraine a penalty, which Malinovskyi saw saved by Dimitrievski.
Despite that miss, Ukraine were still on for the victory, which places them on three points with one match day left in Group B. Now we will see how the two sides rated …
Alexander Karavaev had a very eventful afternoon / ROBERT GHEMENT / Getty Images
George Buschan (GK) – 7/10 – Rarely called but made a couple of brilliant saves in the second half, including the penalty itself.
Alexander Karavaev (RB) – 7/10 – A massive threat along the right edge, which constantly wants to overlap and get into the box, eventually dealing with three important passes. His amazing girl on created the opener. Unlucky to have admitted the punishment.
Illya Zabarnyi (CB) – 6/10 – Very composed on the ball, shows good distribution and placed well to make four distances.
Mykola Matvienko (CB) – 6/10 – Sometimes stuck in the box and allowed northern Macedonian invaders too much freedom, but was mostly solid.
Vitaliy Mykolenko (LB) – 6/10 – A decent defensive shift, which collects three ball recoveries, but could not assert itself in the future.
Oleksandr Zinchenko was impressive / Robert Ghement – Pool / Getty Images
Mykola Shaparenko (CM) – 5/10 – Some nice details on the ball and looked to create chances for others all the time, but gets a five to dive against everyone’s favorite underdog – not on.
Taras Stepanenko (CM) – 6/10 – Didn’t have much to do centrally but read the game well and screened his defenders to decent effect and made three ball recoveries.
Oleksandr Zinchenko (CM) – 8/10 – Constantly found pockets with space in dangerous areas and dictated the pace of negotiations during large parts of the match. Managed three important passes and linked the midfield and attacked fantastically, as well as breaking up the game with six ball recoveries.
Andriy Yarmolenko showed his class against Northern Macedonia / Robert Ghement – Pool / Getty Images
Andriy Yarmolenko (RW) – 9/10 – One of the players in the tournament so far. Was on the back post to drop in for the first and hit his striker brilliantly for the second – all while playing a nice brand of football.
Roman Yaremchuk (ST) – 8/10 – A threat everywhere. Spun his markers well, held the ball up brilliantly, linked the bearing and grabbed a deserved goal with great calm.
Ruslan Malinovskyi (LW) – 7/10 – Missed a penalty but was very good all the time. Often dropped deep and watched to make things happen. Did it with decent effect and made four important passes all the time.
Viktor Tsyhankov (RW) – 5/10
Artem Besyedin (ST) – 5/10
Serhiy Sydorchuk (DM) – 6/10
Eduard Sobol (RB) – Not applicable
Darko Velkovski tackles Vitaliy Mykolenko / Vadim Ghirda – Pool / Getty Images
Stal Dimitrievski (GK) – 6/10 – In fact, always be on your toes and aware of the danger in the box but could not do anything to keep any of the goals away.
Stefan Ristovski (CB) – 6/10 – Sometimes covered his colleagues really well and showed good pace to track runners who had escaped the other central defenders.
Darko Velkovski (CB) – 6/10 – Started the game badly and let Yaremchuk spin behind but woke up and was good at increasing and reducing the risk and making five tackles.
Visar Musliu (CB) – 5/10 – Decent in the air but was caught on the ground, so that overlapping players could slip into the box and deliver quality.
Enis Bardhi showed moments of class / Mihai Barbu – Pool / Getty Images
Boban Nikolov (RWB) – 5/10 – Whenever possible, he bombed right and looked dangerous. But was mostly strapped by the waves of Ukrainian pressure.
Arijan Ademi (CM) – 6/10 – Quietly impressive, so things move nicely for their side with a 93% passing accuracy and were alert to danger and made three ball recoveries.
Enis Bardhi (CM) – 7/10 – Northern Macedonia’s brightest spark, which constantly showed great skill and seemed to go out of midfield with the ball and drive the opposition. Desperate unlucky not to score, see a couple of efforts saved fantastically.
Stefan Spirovski (CM) – 5/10 – Visible mission to stay deep and cut out all creativity, but really could not get anywhere near Zinchenko and Malinovskyi and eventually became redundant.
Ezgjan Alioski (LWB) – 6/10 – Strangely enough, the Leeds man was completely absent all the time, but managed to pull back a goal with his penalty kick.
Goran Pandev walks around Andriy Yarmolenko / Justin Setterfield / Getty Images
Goran Pandev (ST) – 6/10 – The legendary striker thought he had scored a great goal to pull one back but was denied a spoilsport by a lineman. Was involved in his entire team’s forward and won them a penalty and reacted first in the box.
Eljif Elmas (ST) – 6/10 – Was much more effective when I released deep and knitted games together from midfield. Sometimes showed good position knowledge in the last third, but his feeling, traction and creativity were lacking from the depths and he was therefore somewhat absent all the time.
Aleksandar Trajkovski (ST) – 6/10 – Tested the goalkeeper on a number of occasions but could not deliver that leading edge.
Darko Churlinov (RB) – 6/10
Daniel Avramovski (AM) – 4/10 – Did very little punch, except to give away a penalty.
Ivan Trickovski (ST) – N / A
