Mykhailo Mudryk and Oleksandr Zinchenko powerless as Ukraine trounced at Euro 2024
Ukraine's Euro 2024 campaign got off to a disasterous start as they fell to an emphatic 3-0 defeat to Romania.
With Premier League stars like Mykhailo Mudryk, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ilya Zabarnyi in the squad, Ukraine went into the game heavy favourites and that was reflected with their 71% possession across the 90 minutes.
However, that control of the ball did not translate to success in front of goal, with Ukraine managing just two shots on target and falling apart at the back to hand Romania a significant victory.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin endured a game to forget as his poor clearance was intercepted by the creative Dennis Man, who squared for Nicolae Stanciu's stunning strike from outside the area on the half-hour mark.
Stanciu nearly beat Lunin directly from a corner soon after but watched the ball strike the top of the crossbar and away from danger.
Romania were clearly satisfied to hand Ukraine plenty of possession but an alarming lack of edge in the final third ensured there were never any suggestions of a comeback.
A tough outing for Lunin | Shaun Botterill/GettyImages
Things went from bad to worse for Lunin early in the second half when Razvan Marin's strike from range ended up fizzing through his hands and into the back of the net.
Denis Dragus tapped home a third soon after to end any doubts about the outcome of the game.
Ukraine's first shot on target did not come until the 77th minute when Premier League transfer target Georgiy Sudakov was denied, before La Liga top scorer Artem Dovbyk chipped an effort on to the roof of the net.
The victory was just Romania's second in Euros history, following on from the dramatic 3-2 triumph over England in the group stage in 2000.
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This article was originally published on www.90min.com as Mykhailo Mudryk and Oleksandr Zinchenko powerless as Ukraine trounced at Euro 2024.