Goals: England – Ukraine- Played on 03/26/2023
The England national team achieved its second consecutive victory in the 2024 European Cup qualifiers, by defeating its Ukrainian guest 2-0, on Sunday evening at Wembley Stadium.
Harry Kane (37) and Bukayo Saka (40) scored the goals for England.
The England national team tops the Group C standings with 6 points, while its Ukrainian counterpart lost in its first qualifying match, to remain without points.
England coach Gareth Southgate relied on the 4-3-3 method, with John Stones playing alongside Harry Maguire, with support from Kyle Walker and Ben Chilwell.
Declan Rice played the role of the pivot player, and Jordan Henderson and Judd Bellingham moved in front of him, behind the attacking trio Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane, and James Madison.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian national team resorted to the 4-3-3 method of play as well, as the defensive line consisted of Oleksandr Karafeev, Oleksandr Svatuk, Mykola Matviyenko, and Vitaly Mykolenko.
Taras Stepanino played in front of the back line, giving freedom to Oleksandr Zinchenko and Horhei Sudakov, to move behind the attacking trio of Ruslan Malinowski, Roman Yaremchuk, and Mykhailo Modric.
The English demanded a penalty kick in the ninth minute, as a result of Kane falling inside the area, but the referee ordered to continue playing.
Saka lifted a dangerous cross from the right, goalkeeper Tropin tried to catch it, but it fell out of his hands and Madison tried to follow it into the net, to no avail, in the 16th minute.
Kane rose to Chilwell’s cross, but the goalkeeper grabbed his header easily in the 21st minute, and Ukraine responded two minutes later when Malinowski’s shot bounced off his colleague Modric’s leg.
Tropin easily controlled Madison’s attempt, following a cross from Henderson in the 34th minute, before Kane opened the scoring in the 37th minute, after following up from a short distance from a cross from Saka.
Saka added the second goal in the 40th minute when he received a pass from Henderson, to control the ball before hitting it strong and curved into the net.
A corner rebounded from the Ukrainian defense, and the ball reached Madison, who shot wide of the goal in the 51st minute, and Saka failed to reach Madison’s through ball in the 66th minute.
Madison took a short free kick to Saka, who shot wide in the 70th minute.
The English launched a counterattack, through which the ball reached Bellingham, who passed in front of the goal from the left, but Matviyenko cut the ball before it reached Saka in the 73rd minute.
Evan Tony entered Kane’s place in the 82nd minute, and the remaining minutes passed calmly without any danger to the two teams’ goal, except for the chance of English substitute Connor Gallagher, who was saved by the goalkeeper in the 87th minute, and the shot of the other substitute, Jack Grealish, in stoppage time, which Tropin also saved.
