Ukraine’s European Championship opener against Romania was a big disappointment. Loss with 0–3 and weak interventions from the goalkeeper Andrij Lunin, everyday in Real Madrid.
For the second match of the group stage, against Slovakia in Düsseldorf, Lunin was replaced in goal by Anatolij Trubin – who saw the ball cross the goal line after 17 minutes. Lukas Haraslin swept away a cross that Ivan Schranz (hero of the match in the 1-0 win against Belgium) headed in.
A Slovak taste starter. But that happiness was not to be.
In the 54th minute, Ukraine equalized. Oleksandr Zintjenko played forward to Mykola Shaparenko who made it 1–1. With ten minutes left of regular time, the decision came. Shaparenko found Roman Jaremtyuk who received and poked in the match decider 2–1.
The victory means that both Ukraine and Slovakia now have three points and a relatively good chance of progressing to the playoffs. Ukraine face Belgium in the final match while Slovakia take on Romania.