TRNAVA (Slovakia), November 21 – Substitute Oleksandr Melashchenko scored a late equalizer as Ukraine tied Slovakia 1-1 in a friendly match Wednesday. Slovakia’s Miroslav Karhan had given the hosts the lead in the 61st minute when he converted a penalty.
In a mostly uneventful first half, the home team held the upper hand but both Karhan and Lubomir Reiter squandered the only two decent chances the Slovaks managed to create, failing to beat Ukraine goalkeeper Dmytro Shutkov in a one-on-one situation.
Ukraine, which welcomed back AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko for his first appearance of the year, proved harmless at the start. In the 84th minute, Shevchenko fired a free kick from 30 meters (yards) and Melashchenko capitalized on a blunder by Slovakia goalkeeper Juraj Bucek to equalize from close range.
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Lineups:
Slovakia: Juraj Bucek; Peter Dzurik, Peter Hlinka, Maros Klimpl, Attila Pinte, Miroslav Karhan, Petras, Rastislav Michalik, Vladimir Leitner, Henrich Bencik, Lubomir Reiter.
Ukraine: Dmytro Shutkov; Anatoly Tymoshchuk, Yury Dmytrulin, Serhiy Fedorov, Oleksandr Radchenko, Hennady Zubov, Serhiy Kormyltsev, Andriy Voronin, Andriy Vorobei, Andriy Shevchenko.
