Nations League. The Ukraine national team lost to Scotland and forfeited the group lead
The wards of Oleksandr Petrakov played their first September match, in which they lost to the Scotland team away.
Photo by Mark Scates - SNS Group
The Ukraine national team continued their campaign in the second tier of the Nations League with a rescheduled first-round match against Scotland. The blue-and-yellow team found themselves back in Glasgow, where they had defeated the hosts in the World Cup 2022 playoff earlier in June.
Oleksandr Petrakov faced significant personnel issues due to health problems. Bushchan, Shaparenko, Zinchenko, and Sobol did not travel for the camp. Newcomer Volynets lacked a British visa, Zabarnyi was serving a suspension, while Mykolenko and Kovalenko suffered micro-injuries. Thus, the head coach of the blue-and-yellow team fielded an experimental "starting lineup."
The match began with a minute's applause by both teams in honor of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, who passed away on September 8 at the age of 96. We note that nearly a thousand fans were present among the spectators at Hampden Park.
Photo Mark Scates - SNS Group
The Ukrainians started the match well, with Mudryk's breakthroughs adding sharpness to our team's attacks. However, overall in the first half, Scotland had the upper hand. For instance, on the 11th minute, Adams broke through from the left flank into the penalty area and shot towards Trubin, though the referee called offside on the attacker. Later, McGinn and Christie delivered dangerous headers, while on the 22nd minute Armstrong tested our goalkeeper from the edge of the box. The game then became more chaotic with frequent skirmishes, and regular errors by the blue-and-yellow team in their own half caused concern.
After halftime, Ukrainians took control of the ball, and Mudryk had a good moment after Gordon's failed clearance but missed an open goal. However, from there on, it was exclusively the hosts dominating. First, Ternie intercepted the ball near our penalty area and passed to Armstrong, whose shot Trubin saved. Then, Armstrong and Ghikey both attempted shots from that same position.
Photo Mark Scates - SNS Group
On the 63rd minute, Adams had two chances to score after McGinn's cross but first hit the bar and then his shot was saved by Trubin. However, Scotland finally broke through on the 70th minute — McGinn won possession in Ukraine’s penalty area from Bondar and scored precisely into the far corner.
Unfortunately, the hosts' dominance continued thereafter; notably, Trubin had to save a shot from Ternie off the rebound. However, on the 80th minute, substitutes for Steve Clarke did organize the second goal — Fraser delivered a corner and Dykes scored at the near post. And then on the 87th minute, Ukrainians experienced déjà vu as after another corner, Dykes completed his brace. Thus, we have an unfortunate result for our team — 0:3.
Photo Mark Scates - SNS Group
Therefore, the Ukraine national team suffered their first loss in the 2022/2023 Nations League and lost a place at the top of the group. Ahead of them is a flight to Yerevan where on Saturday, September 24 they will face Armenia.
Nations League. Division B. Group 1
04.06.2022
Armenia — Ireland — 1:0
08.06.2022
Ireland — Ukraine — 0:1
Scotland — Armenia — 2:0
11.06.2022
Ukraine — Armenia — 3:0
Ireland — Scotland — 3:0
14.06.2022
Ukraine — Ireland — 1:1
Armenia — Scotland — 1:4
21.09.2022
Scotland — Ukraine — 3:0 (0:0)
Goals: McGinn (70), Dykes (80, 87).
Scotland: Gordon, Patterson (Ghikey, 26), McTominay, Hendrie, McCenna, Ternie (Taylor, 85), Armstrong (Fraser, 76), McGinn (c), McGregor, Christie (McLean, 85), Adams (Dykes, 76).
Substitutes: Kelly, McCrory, Porteous, Gilmour, Rolston, Jack.
Coach: Steve Clarke.
Ukraine: Trubin, Mykhailichenko, Matviyenko, Bondar, Karavaev, Stepnyak (Sidorchuk, 46), Mudryk (Ignatenko, 83), Malynovskyi, Pichalnok (Zubkov, 83), Yarmolenko (c) (Tsygankov, 67), Dovbyk (Yaremchuk, 67).
Substitutes: Lunin, Riznyk, Krivtsov, Kachaраба, Mykolenko, Timchik.
Coach: Oleksandr Petrakov.
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (Italy).
Yellow cards: Stepnyak (18), Bondar (45+1), Yaremchuk (71), Sidorchuk (83), Malynovskyi (90+2).
September 21. Glasgow. "Hampden Park".
Table
|
|
M |
W |
D |
L |
F-A |
Pts |
|
1. Scotland |
4 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
9-4 |
9 |
|
2. Ukraine |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
5-4 |
7 |
|
3. Ireland |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4-3 |
4 |
|
4. Armenia |
4 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
2-9 |
3 |
September 24, 2022
Armenia — Ukraine 16.00
Scotland — Ireland 21.45
September 27, 2022
Ireland — Armenia 21.45
Ukraine — Scotland 21.45
Match start time - Kyiv.
According to the regulations, the group winner will receive a promotion to League A, while the last-placed team in the quartet will play in League C next cycle.
