Ukraine Into Euro Last 8 With Late Winner
30 June, 2021
Ukraine struck in the dying stages of extra-time to secure a spot in the EURO 2020 quarter-finals with a 2-1 win over Sweden.
Juventus starlet Dejan Kulusevski was drafted back into the Swedish line-up as Robin Quaison dropped to the bench while Ukraine handed starts to Sergey Kryvtsov and Taras Stepanenko.
Ukraine got the game's first meaningful opening on 11 minutes when Roman Yaremchuk combined with Andriy Yarmolenko before forcing Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen into a fine save.
Andriy Shevchenko's men got the breakthrough on 28 minutes as the influential Yarmolenko did well to pick out Oleksandr Zinchenko, who rifled a volley past Olsen at the far post.
However, Sweden managed to restore parity minutes before the interval when Emil Forsberg bagged his fourth goal of the tournament with a deflected effort from distance.
Forsberg nearly completed the turnaround 10 minutes into the second half but his curling strike cracked the upright just moments before Sydorchuk had hit the woodwork at the other end for Ukraine.
The woodwork came to Sweden's frustration once again with 20 minutes left on the clock as Forsberg cut inside from the left flank and unleashed a powerful strike that crashed against the crossbar.
The game went ultimately went to extra-time, but Sweden were reduced to 1- men in the 99th minute after Marcus Danielson was shown straight red card for a dangerous challenge after a VAR check.
With the game seemingly headed for penalties, Ukraine snatched the winning goal in the last minute of extra time when un-marked Artem Dovbyk headed home to send his side to the quarter-finals.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za