In the opening match of Group E of EURO 2024, Romania was completely outmatched in controlling the ball, but thanks to their tight defense and good finishing, they surprised with a “3-star” win over Ukraine.

Romania shocked by defeating Ukraine in the opening match of EURO 2024Starting lineup:

Romania: Nita, Ratiu, Dragusin, Burca, Bancu, Marius Marin, Dennis Man, Razvan Marin, Stanciu, Coman, Dragus.

Ukraine: Lunin, Konoplia, Zabarnyi, Matvienko, Zinchenko, Shaparenko, Stepanenko, Sudakov, Tsygankov, Mudryk, Dovbyk.

Scorers: Nicolae Stanciu (29′), Razvan Marin (53′), Denis Dragus (57′).

Despite being underestimated, Romania entered the match very confidently against Ukraine. In the 8th minute, Florinel Coman had the ball quite freely outside the penalty area. After a bit of control, the 26-year-old midfielder launched a long shot that hit goalkeeper Andriy Lunin.

After more than 10 minutes of somewhat inferior play, Ukraine regained control of the match. However, Oleksandr Zinchenko and his teammates encountered difficulties against Romania’s tight defense.

In the 29th minute, goalkeeper Andriy Lunin made a wrong pass straight to Dennis Man. The 25-year-old made a pass for Nicolae Stanciu to launch a long-range shot into Ukraine‘s net, opening the score for Romania.

For the remainder of the first half, Ukraine still controlled the ball more but was deadlocked in attack. For its part, Romania is very dangerous in counterattacks. In the 39th minute, Nicolae Stanciu shot against goalkeeper Lunin’s goal against the crossbar.

In the second half, Romania played very excitedly. In the 53rd minute, Mykola Shaparenko tried to block Razvan Marin’s move and launched a dangerous long-range shot that beat goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, doubling the gap for Romania.

It didn’t stop there, exactly 4 minutes later, Dennis Man dribbled the ball from the right wing into the penalty area before making a pass to eliminate goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, helping Denis Dragus easily put the ball into the empty net, increasing The gap is 3-0 for Romania.

With nothing left to lose, Ukraine was forced to put its squad up to attack. At the same time, coach Serhiy Rebrov also sent Volodymyr Brazhko, Roman Yaremchuk and Andrii Yarmolenko onto the field. In the 68th minute, Stanciu made a dangerous free kick that narrowly missed the target.

In the 70th minute, Ukraine received a free kick at a distance of more than 20 meters slightly to the left wing. Unfortunately, Georgiy Sudakov’s powerful kick could not get over the fence on the Romanian side.

After that, Ukraine continued to diligently organize attacks. In the 77th minute, Georgiy Sudakov launched a dangerous long-range shot but could not defeat the excellence of goalkeeper Florin Nita.

Despite creating many turbulent situations in the remaining time, Ukraine could not score and had to accept a 0-3 defeat. The most unfortunate thing was Roman Yaremchuk’s shot against the crossbar in the 90+1 minute.