UEFA Euro 2024 – Group E
Romania …………….3
Ukraine ………………..0
Stunning goals from Nicolae Stanciu and Răzvan Marin ensured a comfortable victory for Romania in Munich.
In the Group E opener, Romania cruised to a win over Ukraine with both players finding the back of the net in impressive fashion. Romania registered their biggest win in these finals in history.
Ukraine started the game by dominating possession in Munich, although they failed to seriously challenge Romania’s goalkeeper Florin Niță. In Romania’s first opportunity, Florinel Coman’s shot was easily saved by Andriy Lunin, the Real Madrid goalkeeper, while Artem Dovbyk missed the target with a high shot over the crossbar.
Edward Iordăscu’s team took the lead in a spectacular manner just before the half-hour mark. Dennis Man intercepted Lunin’s hurried clearance and passed the ball to Stanciu, who skillfully curled a first-time shot into the top corner of the net.
Romania came close to doubling their lead before halftime, but Man’s shot was deflected narrowly wide of the far post by Taras Stepanenko.
In the second half, Serhiy Rebrov’s team faced a significant challenge as they conceded two goals within a span of four minutes. Marin managed to find the bottom corner after the ball fortuitously landed at his feet on the outskirts of the penalty area.
Shortly after, Denis Draguş capitalized on a swiftly executed corner to poke the ball into the net from close range. Despite Georgiy Sudakov’s late attempt with a low shot, Ukraine had no opportunity to stage a comeback.
Line-ups
Romania: Niță; Rațiu, Drăgușin, Burcă, Bancu; M. Marin (Rus 75); Man (Hagi 62), R. Marin, Stanciu (Racoviţan 87), Coman (Mihăilă 62); Draguş (Puşcaş 75)
Ukraine: Lunin; Konoplia (Tymchyk 72), Zabarnyi, Matviyenko, Zinchenko; Stepanenko (Brazhko 62), Shaparenko (Yaremchuk 62); Tsygankov (Yarmolenko 62), Sudakov (Malinovskyi 83), Mudryk; Dovbyk
