Second-half goals from Mykola Shaparenko and Roman Yaremchuk earned Ukraine a superb comeback victory and their first Group E points, against a Slovakia side denied early progress to the round of 16.
Mykola Shaparenko drew Ukraine level against Slovakia
Trailing 1-0 at half-time, Ukraine dug deep to secure a 2-1 comeback victory against Slovakia and put their first points on the board in UEFA EURO 2024 Group E.
Key moments
10′: Trubin keeps out Haraslín with foot
11′: Ukraine keeper denies Schranz with body
17′: Hancko free-kick parried by Trubin
17′: Schranz heads opener for Slovakia
34′: Tymchyk fires effort against post
54′: Shaparenko side-foots in leveller
74′: Mudryk hits post on the break
80′: Yaremchuk caps comeback win
Match in brief: headline
Ivan Schranz heads the ball past Anatoliy Trubin
Slovakia raced out of the blocks with a goal inside seven minutes on Matchday 1, and they quickly showed their menace here in Düsseldorf. First came the trickery of Lukáš Haraslín, twisting and turning on the edge of the area before forcing Anatoliy Trubin – in for Andriy Lunin – to save with a foot at his near post.
Moments later, Trubin did brilliantly to deny Ivan Schranz with his body at point-blank range. The Benfica goalkeeper was quickly justifying his selection, also leaping to keep out a Dávid Hancko free-kick, but Slovakia’s pressure eventually told, with Schranz the scorer as he headed Haraslín’s cross down into the ground and back past Trubin.
Ivan Schranz celebrates his opening goal for Slovakia
Ukraine were trailing according to every metric – scoreline, possession, chances – but they were still able to rouse themselves, Artem Dovbyk pirouetting in the area before unleashing a shot blocked by Peter Pekarík. And they went closer still when Oleksandr Tymchyk drove a low effort beyond Martin Dúbravka and off the far post.
Oleksandr Zinchenko then tested Dúbravka with a set piece, before Haraslín obliged Trubin to sprawl low to his left to keep the scoreline 1-0 at the interval. Slovakia no doubt merited a bigger advantage, yet the narrow lead gave Ukraine hope – and they made the most shortly after the restart, Mykola Shaparenko side-footing in to cap a neat team move led by Mudryk.
Vivo Player of the Match: Mykola Shaparenko (Ukraine)
He was involved in the key moments of the game, scoring one goal and assisting the other. He performed really well with the ball, and was always aggressive and well positioned without it.
That transformed the complexion of the game and it was Serhiy Rebrov’s side who crackled with the greater energy as the game wore on. If Mudryk firing against a post wasn’t proof enough, that came when substitute Roman Yaremchuk did superbly to control a long Shaparenko ball over the top and tuck a shot past Dúbravka. Suddenly, Ukraine were heading for victory – and right back in the running for a knockout place.
Rastislav Hribik, Slovakia reporter
Despite a strong first half, Slovakia couldn’t hold onto their lead and eventually Ukraine found a way through. Ivan Schranz’s second goal of the tournament proved not to be enough and, in the second half, Ukraine had far more of the ball. While they couldn’t take anything from this game, with three points from their opening victory over Belgium, Slovakia are still well positioned to progress to the knockout stage. Their attentions will now turn to their final group game against Romania.
Bogdan Buga, Ukraine reporter
Ukraine showed great character in the second game to turn this game around and put themselves into contention to progress from Group E. They came up against a strong opponent in Slovakia, who dominated a lot of the first half, but they came out as a re-energised team in the second half. Group E is now wide open and Ukraine will go into their final game against Belgium with everything to play for.
Reaction
Mykhailo Mudryk is crowded out by Martin Dúbravka
Key stats
- This was just Ukraine’s second win in their last ten EURO group stage matches.
- Ukraine have been winning at half-time in only one of their last 13 EURO games.
- Ukraine have contested 13 EURO matches without keeping a single clean sheet.
- In nine meetings with Slovakia, Ukraine have now won four, drawing three and losing the other two.
- With an average age of 25 years and 259 days, Ukraine’s starting XI was the youngest so far at EURO 2024 – and the first with an average age below 26 years
- Oleksandr Zinchenko became only the second player to reach the milestone of ten EURO appearance for Ukraine. Andriy Yarmolenko is the nation’s record holder, extending his tally here to 13 appearances.
- Slovakia have still never won two consecutive EURO group stage matches or kept successive clean sheets in the competition.
- Slovakia have lost only three of their last 13 competitive matches (W8 D2).
Ivan Schranz is the joint-leading goalscorer at EUR0 2024, tied with Jamal Musiala on two goals.
Line-ups
Slovakia: Dúbravka; Pekarík, Vavro, Škriniar, Hancko (Obert 67); Kucka, Lobotka, Duda (Bénes 60); Schranz (Sauer 86), Boženík (Strelec 60), Haraslín (Suslov 67)
Ukraine: Trubin; Tymchyk, Zabarnyi, Matviyenko, Zinchenko; Shaparenko (Talovierov 90+2), Brazhko (Sydorchuk 85), Sudakov; Yarmolenko (Zubkov 67), Dovbyk (Yaremchuk 67), Mudryk (Malinovskyi 85)