Euro 2020: Ukraine Beat Major Tournament Debutants North Macedonia 2-1 To Book Their First Win

Photo: AFP

Goals from Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk helped Ukraine beat North Macedonia 2-1 on Thursday at the Arena Nationala in Bucharest, to register their first win at the European Football Championships 2020.  Ukraine took the lead in the 29th minute of the first half.  Photo Courtesy: AFP

Ukraine, who lost their first match in a thrilling encounter to the Netherlands, showed their mettle this time and handed Macedonia their second defeat in the tournament. Photo Courtesy: AFP

Ukraine put pressure on Macedonia by scoring both goals in the first half itself.  Although Macedonia tried to make a comeback in the second half and at one point came closer but Ukraine managed to maintain its lead till the end and keep alive its hopes of reaching the next round. Photo Courtesy: AFP

Five minutes after the first goal from Andriy Yarmolenko, in the 34th minute, he assisted Yaramchuk to score another goal and doubled Ukraine's lead. Photo Courtesy: AFP

With these two goals, Yarmolenko and Yaramchuk equaled coach Andrei Shevchenko's record of scoring two goals for Ukraine in the Euro Cup.  Legendary forward Shevchenko had scored two goals during the 2-1 win against Sweden at Euro 2012. Photo Courtesy: AFP

After taking a 2-0 lead in the first half, Ukraine started well in the second half as well, but soon the team awarded a penalty to North Macedonia.  Egjan Alioski took this penalty, but he could not convert it into a goal.  Photo Courtesy: AFP

Ukraine's goalkeeper Georgei Buschen blocked the penalty, but the rebounded ball came towards Alyoski and the Macedonian corrected his mistake by scoring a goal. Photo Courtesy: AFP

Macedonia tried even harder to equalize, but Ukraine maintained their lead until the end and registered their first win of the tournament. Photo Courtesy: AFP