Ukraine’s Euro 2020 journey came to a bitter end in Rome on July 3 as they were thrashed 4-0 by a ruthless England team.
The result sees Ukraine leave the tournament at their furthest ever point of progression at a European Championship, the side having never before made it out of the group phase.
The Yellow and Blues can therefore fly back to Kyiv pleased at having beaten expectations, but perhaps wishing they could have put up more of a fight against the dominant Three Lions.
On the night, England opted for an attack-oriented 4-2-3-1 formation, while Ukraine started in a more conservative 3-5-2, with three central defenders and two wing-backs intended to provide keep England’s dangerous front men off the scoresheet.
This failed to materialize, and it took England just over three minutes to get their first goal, Harry Kane managing to run several meters ahead of Ukraine’s bamboozled defenders and dispatch Raheem Sterling’s incisive pass into Georgiy Buschan’s net.
The early setback rattled the Yellow and Blues, who lacked confidence on the ball and creativity when going forward for the first half-hour.
Manager Andriy Shevchenko responded by taking off defender Sergiy Kryvtsov for attacking midfielder Viktor Tsygankov.
However, instead of picking up the tempo, things went wrong for Ukraine immediately after the break. The second half started with a quick-fire double of headed England goals, the first from Harry Maguire and the second from Kane. Both were failures on the part of Ukraine’s defense, Mykola Matvienko and Illia Zabarnyi getting into poor defensive positions and being beaten in the air far too easily.
After the double blow, Ukraine fell apart. Jordan Henderson piled on the misery in the 63rd minute with a fourth goal. Like all the others, it was scored with his head, taking advantage of Ukraine’s inability to defend a corner kick.
Despite showing glimpses of good build-up play, Ukraine failed to seriously threaten the English goal at any point of the game, which means that England are still yet to concede a goal at Euro 2020.
The Three Lions will now play Denmark in the semi-final on July 7, their furthest progression at a European Championship for 25 years.
They will do so at their home ground of Wembley Stadium in London, where the final will also be held.
Read our previous Euro 2020 coverage:
Ukraine-Sweden, 2-1: Last-gasp goal sends jubilant Ukraine through to Euro 2020 quarter-finals
Ukraine-Austria, 1-0: Ukraine could still progress to Euro 2020 knockout phase despite Austria defeat
Ukraine-North Macedonia, 2-1: Yellow and Blues’ first win at Euros since 2012
Ukraine-Netherlands, 3-2: Yellow & blue comeback cut short by late blow
