Thursday, June 17, 2021 at 4:51 PM• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 16:58

Ukraine did itself a great service on Thursday afternoon in Group C. The team of national coach Andriy Shevchenko was 2-1 too strong for North Macedonia by hits from Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk. Both attackers are now joint top scorer of all-time Ukraine with their trainer at European Championships with two goals. The game was characterized by two missed penalties, the first of which from North Macedonia hit the rebound in the rebound. With the win, Ukraine, the Netherlands and Austria are now on three points. The latter countries will play against each other later in the evening in the Johan Cruijff ArenA.

Shevchenko made two changes against North Macedonia compared to the lost opening game against the Netherlands. Mykola Shaparenko and Taras Stepanenko appeared at the kick-off at the expense of Serhiy Sydorchuk and the injured Oleksandr Zubkov. Ukraine showed from the first whistle with what intentions it had traveled to Bucharest. The team dominated in possession and managed to create the first opportunities early in the game. Oleksandr Karavayev’s shot from the second line, however, went high over and Ruslan Malinovskiy saw an effort in the short corner well caught by Stole Dimitrievski.

After half an hour of play, the home team was rewarded for their attacking intentions. Yarmolenko initially saw his effort stopped by the goalie, but was accurate from the following corner. After a sublime chop by Karavayev, he was completely free to tap in at the far post: 1-0. Ukraine pushed through in that phase and managed to double the score five minutes later. This time Yarmolenko was the declarant, after which Yaremchuk enjoyed a free passage towards Dimitrievski’s goal. The AA Gent striker stayed cool and shot the ball controlled into the right corner for the 2-0.

It marked his fourth goal in the last five games for the attacker. North Macedonia was extremely disappointing in the first act, but seemed to be on the same level. Five minutes before the break, Goran Pandev was sent into the deep end, after which he cut out Illya Zabarnyi and rounded off with a nice marker. Referee Fernando Rapallini, however, decided to disallow the goal for offside. Ten minutes after the break, the connecting goal would follow, when Pandev was kicked under the foot by Karavayev and Rapallini pointed to the spot. Ezgjan Alioski initially saw his penalty being turned, but was attentive to the rebound: 2-1.

Shevchenko then pulled out his two goalscorers twenty minutes before the end and saw how Rapallini put the ball on the spot for the second time after the intervention of the VAR in the final phase. After a free kick by Malinovskiy, the ball ended on Daniel Avramovski’s outstretched arm. Malinovskiy took his place behind the ball, but saw his bet turned by Dimitrievski. North Macedonia then pushed one last time, hoping to force an equaliser, but no great opportunities followed.

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