Euro 2020. Eight steps of the national team to the final tournament: Kharkiv benefit of Ruslan Malinovskyi

08.05.2020 13:03

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

In the sixth match of the qualifying tournament for the 2020 European Championship, which has already been officially postponed to 2021, the national team of Ukraine in Kharkiv calmly defeated the Lithuanians for the second time in a row.

The starting line-up of the national team of Ukraine confirmed the serious attitude of the hosts to the next clash with their opponent, whom they confidently beat a month ago in away game (3:0). Despite the upcoming match with the European champions, Portugal, almost all the main players were involved at OSC Metalist on Friday.

However, the Ukrainians managed to overcome the tight defense of the Lithuanian national team only in the 29th minute. Finally, one of the many shots was accurate: Malinowski and Moraes in the center of the two passed defensive structures of the opponent, and Ruslan irresistibly broke through.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

In the second half, Ukraine slightly reduced the intensity of action, but in general continued to keep the course of events under control. And in the 58th minute Malinovskyi managed another effective shot. Yarmolenko earned a free kick, and Ruslan scored from a set-piece.

Ukraine - Lithuania - 2: 0

Goals: Malinovskyi(29, 58).

Ukraine: Pyatov (k), Sobol, Kryvtsov, Matviyenko, Bolbat, Stepanenko (Sydorchuk, 73), Malinovskyi, Zinchenko, Yarmolenko (Tsyhankov, 64), Marlos (Konoplyanka, 59), Moraes. Substitutions: Pankov, Plastun, Yaremchuk, Shabanov, Buyalsky, Mykolenko, Kovalenko, Karavayev, Lunin. 

Lithuania: Chernyauskas, Mikolunas (k), Klimavicius, Gerdweinis, Andryushkjavicus (Shimkus, 62), Vorobyovas, Verbitskas, Novikovas, Zulpa, Golubitskas (Lasitskas, 73), Lauksemis (D. 77). Substitutions: Bartkus, Adamonis, Yankauskas, Kozlauskas, Vaitkunas, G. Matulevicius, Kasparovicius, Baravikas. 

Referee: Harald Lehner (Austria). 

Booked: Stepanenko (55) - Novikovas (54), Zhulpa (57).

October 11, 2019. Kharkiv. OSC Metalist. 32 500 spectators.

Photo by Pavlo Kubanov

After the match

Andrii Shevchenko (head coach of the national team of Ukraine): "I want to express my gratitude to the fans. A full stadium gathered today. Guys are always happy to play with such support.

I liked how the team reacted to the game. There was a balance, we didn't do anything to the opponent, we switched well from attack to defense. I said the day before that the match would be difficult. There may have been nervousness after a series of unrealized moments, but it did not happen. Our players moved the ball well from flank to flank and created moments. Implementation, however, failed a bit, you need to make better use of their capabilities. In fights with the best teams, there will not be as many of them as today, so we must learn to squeeze the maximum. "

Ruslan Malinovskyi (Ukraine midfielder): "I agree that Lithuania is to some extent my team. After all, I scored five goals for the national team, and three of them were scored by the Lithuanians. In fact, I had two moments, and both were realized. But we don't need to make something supernatural out of it, because we had to win this match. What, in fact, they did - they won and took three points. "

Euro 2020. Eight steps of the national team of Ukraine to the final tournament: slowed down the continent champion

Euro 2020. Eight Steps of Ukraine to the final round: heavy success in Luxembourg

Euro 2020. Eight steps of Ukraine to the final tournament: the devastating defeat of Serbia in Lviv

Euro 2020. Eight Steps of Ukraine to the final tournament: Once again, Luxembourg's Hard Exam

Euro 2020. Eight steps of the national team to the final tournament: Ukraine defeated Lithuania in Vilnius