We’ve reached the finals!
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
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In the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification playoffs, the Ukraine team met with Scotland
Representatives of Shakhtar appeared in the starting lineup: defender Mykola Matviienko and midfielder Taras Stepanenko. Footballers of the Ukraine national team wrapped themselves in the national flag before the match, with the entire Hampden Park singing the anthem of our country before the kickoff of the game in Glasgow.
Confident start
The game began cautiously: the teams looked closely at each other and were in no hurry to force things. The Ukrainians delivered the first dangerous effort: Tsyhankov checked the keeper’s reflexes from nearly the edge of the penalty area. Toward the middle of the first half, Yarmolenko had a scoring chance when he finished off Yaremchuk's effort only to see Gordon come to the Scots’ rescue. Right away, Yaremchuk picked up Tsyhankov's pass and found himself one on one with the keeper, but failed to succeed from tight angle. And in the 33rd minute, the Ukraine national team managed to open the scoring: with a long ball Malinovskyi found Andriy Yarmolenko who handled the ball with the first touch and lobbed it over the goalkeeper with the second, making it 0-1! Throughout the first half, the Blue-and-Yellows displayed safe defensive play, practically not allowing the hosts to disturb Bushchan, therefore they calmly kept the acceptable result until the break.
Game of nerves
Just early in the second half, the Ukrainians doubled their lead: in the 49th minute, Roman Yaremchuk headed home Karavaev's cross and made it 0-2. Scotland, realizing the hopelessness of their situation, rushed forward and created a couple of unpleasant moments at the Yellow-Blues’ goal: first, Christie's powerful effort was saved by Bushchan, and then McGinn miraculously missed the target from the edge of the goal area. In response, Tsyhankov nearly sent Gordon the wrong way, but the opposing keeper still handled it. On 72 minutes, Oleksandr Petrakov made the first substitutions by fielding Mykola Shaparenko and the Miner Mykhailo Mudryk. The hosts continued sieging the Ukrainians' box, and to differ from Adams' shot that was saved by the goalkeeper, in the 79th minute no one could prevent the ball from crossing the goal line after McGregor's smasher that reduced the deficit. Dovbyk, whom Mudryk brought one on one with the keeper with an excellent pass, could restore the Ukrainians’ calmness, but the forward lost the duel vs the keeper. The dying minutes turned into a real thriller, but organized defence helped the Blue-Yellows survive, with Artem Dovbyk still netting another one in the stoppage time to seal the win.
3-1 – Ukraine beat Scotland in the most anticipated match of the year and got one step closer to their goal.
On June 5, in the qualification finals, the Ukraine team will take on the Wales side in Cardiff. The winners of this match will secure a 2022 FIFA World Cup berth in Qatar.
Scotland 1-3 (0-1) Ukraine
Goals: 0-1 Yarmolenko (33’), 0-2 Yaremchuk (49’), 1-2 McGregor (79’), 1-3 Dovbyk (90+5’)
Ukraine: Bushchan, Karavaev, Zabarnyi, Matviienko, Mykolenko, Stepanenko (Sydorchuk 90+2’), Malinovskyi (Shaparenko, 72’), Zinchenko, Yarmolenko (c) (Zubkov, 79’), Tsyhankov (Mudryk, 72’), Yaremchuk (Dovbyk, 79’)
Confident start
The game began cautiously: the teams looked closely at each other and were in no hurry to force things. The Ukrainians delivered the first dangerous effort: Tsyhankov checked the keeper’s reflexes from nearly the edge of the penalty area. Toward the middle of the first half, Yarmolenko had a scoring chance when he finished off Yaremchuk's effort only to see Gordon come to the Scots’ rescue. Right away, Yaremchuk picked up Tsyhankov's pass and found himself one on one with the keeper, but failed to succeed from tight angle. And in the 33rd minute, the Ukraine national team managed to open the scoring: with a long ball Malinovskyi found Andriy Yarmolenko who handled the ball with the first touch and lobbed it over the goalkeeper with the second, making it 0-1! Throughout the first half, the Blue-and-Yellows displayed safe defensive play, practically not allowing the hosts to disturb Bushchan, therefore they calmly kept the acceptable result until the break.
Game of nerves
Just early in the second half, the Ukrainians doubled their lead: in the 49th minute, Roman Yaremchuk headed home Karavaev's cross and made it 0-2. Scotland, realizing the hopelessness of their situation, rushed forward and created a couple of unpleasant moments at the Yellow-Blues’ goal: first, Christie's powerful effort was saved by Bushchan, and then McGinn miraculously missed the target from the edge of the goal area. In response, Tsyhankov nearly sent Gordon the wrong way, but the opposing keeper still handled it. On 72 minutes, Oleksandr Petrakov made the first substitutions by fielding Mykola Shaparenko and the Miner Mykhailo Mudryk. The hosts continued sieging the Ukrainians' box, and to differ from Adams' shot that was saved by the goalkeeper, in the 79th minute no one could prevent the ball from crossing the goal line after McGregor's smasher that reduced the deficit. Dovbyk, whom Mudryk brought one on one with the keeper with an excellent pass, could restore the Ukrainians’ calmness, but the forward lost the duel vs the keeper. The dying minutes turned into a real thriller, but organized defence helped the Blue-Yellows survive, with Artem Dovbyk still netting another one in the stoppage time to seal the win.
3-1 – Ukraine beat Scotland in the most anticipated match of the year and got one step closer to their goal.
On June 5, in the qualification finals, the Ukraine team will take on the Wales side in Cardiff. The winners of this match will secure a 2022 FIFA World Cup berth in Qatar.
Scotland 1-3 (0-1) Ukraine
Goals: 0-1 Yarmolenko (33’), 0-2 Yaremchuk (49’), 1-2 McGregor (79’), 1-3 Dovbyk (90+5’)
Ukraine: Bushchan, Karavaev, Zabarnyi, Matviienko, Mykolenko, Stepanenko (Sydorchuk 90+2’), Malinovskyi (Shaparenko, 72’), Zinchenko, Yarmolenko (c) (Zubkov, 79’), Tsyhankov (Mudryk, 72’), Yaremchuk (Dovbyk, 79’)
