UKRAINE 0-2 FRANCE
Menez 52’
Cabaye 56’
|
UKRAINE |
FRANCE |
|
| Possession (%) |
42 |
58 |
| Shots |
9 |
14 |
| Shots on target |
2 |
10 |
| Corners |
5 |
6 |
| Yellow Cards |
2 |
3 |
| Red Cards |
0 |
0 |
France storm to victory over Uk-rain.
France defeat co-hosts Ukraine in Donetsk after the match was suspended in the 4th minute due to extreme weather conditions.
The match had barely got underway before Ukrainian and French players were ushered off of the pitch by referee Bjorn Kuipers as heavy rain and lightning circled overhead. The game restarted just under one hour later, but the delay seemed to play into Ukrainian hands as the French looked a shadow of their former selves throughout the first half.
Despite France’s lack of organisation and defensive structure, they found themselves carving out chances as they advanced forward. Karim Benzema had two meaningful efforts inside the opening quarter of an hour just before Jeremy Menez stroked the ball into the Ukraine net from Benzema’s precise through ball, but his goal was ruled out for offside.
It was then Ukraine’s turn to be adventurous going forward, captain Andriy Shevchenko produced a heroic performance against Sweden at the start of the week, and continued this match in the same vein. The Dynamo Kiev striker had a chance to take his Euro 2012 goal total to three on thirty minutes after a teasing cross by rising star Yevhen Konoplyanka. Shevchenko brought the ball down expertly, but his shot was blocked well by France keeper Hugo Lloris.
After Shevchenko’s performance against Sweden, many of you chose him in PlayUp3Strikers Facebook/Twitter game for Gameweek two. At this point of the match, he was looking a hot favourite to deliver the goods.
France wandered lifelessly off of the pitch at half time, they knew that on paper they were ten times the team the Ukraine are, yet they found themselves being outplayed at times. Even from the opening stages of the game, the David and Goliath of Group D became equals.
Despite Ukraine’s strong performance in the first half, many of you stuck with French players in your Next Goal predictions. Find out how you did in PlayUp’s Next Goal mobile web game now, and make selections for the next live game.
Laurent Blanc must have had some serious words at half time as his French side flew out of the traps in the second half. Despite Andriy Shevchenko having a thunderous effort on 49 minutes, France never looked like surrendering their dominance, and took the lead on 52 minutes.
Jeremy Menez received the ball from Karim Benzema on the right wing and only had one thing in his mind, the Paris Saint-Germain winger cut inside Yevhen Selin onto his left foot and squeezed the ball inside Andriy Pyatov’s near post.
Just four minutes later, Benzema grabbed his second assist of the match, this time by setting up Newcastle United midfielder Yohan Cabaye. Benzema slid Cabaye in on goal, and despite Oleg Gusev’s desperate attempts to thwart him, he casually rolled France into a 2-0 lead with his left foot.
France then played their football inside the Ukrainian half, and brought the home fans back down to earth after a dream start to their Euro 2012 campaign. Boos resounded around the Donbass Arena as France tormented their opposition, shots from Cabaye and Benzema going close as the game grew older.
Ukraine posed the occasional threat but France were comfortable, and ran out 2-0 winners to take them temporarily top of Group D.
France’s final group game is on 19th June against Sweden, while Ukraine host England at the same time. France will only need a draw to progress into the quarter finals, while Ukraine must beat England to stand any chance of qualification.
|
UKRAINE |
FRANCE |
|
Andriy Pyatov |
Hugo Lloris |
|
Yevhen Selin █ |
Mattieu Debuchy █ |
|
Yevhen Khacheridi |
Phillipe Mexes █ |
|
Taras Mykhalyk |
Adil Rami |
|
Anatoliy Tymoschuk █ |
Gael Clichy |
|
Oleg Gusev |
Jeremy Menez █ (Martin 73’) |
|
Andriy Yarmolenko (Aliyev 68’) |
Yohan Cabaye (M’Vila 68’) |
|
Sergey Nazarenko (Milevskiy 59’) |
Alou Diarra |
|
Yevhen Konoplyanka |
Franck Ribery |
|
Andriy Shevchenko |
Samir Nasri |
|
Andriy Voronin (Devic 45’) |
Karim Benzema (Giroud 75’) |
Jeremy Menez was a surprise inclusion for the French this evening, did you manage to predict his presence in PlayUp’s The Insider game? Check out the link to find out how many selections you guessed correctly!
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