The Ukrainian national team completed the group stage of the Nations League with an away match against Albania. Our national team approached the confrontation in Tirana in last place in its quartet. The Blue-Yellows were only satisfied with a victory over the home team. Success in today’s match saved the Ukrainians from direct relegation to League C and even, under certain circumstances, gave them a chance to compete for League A.
Compared to the match against Georgia, Sergei Rebrov’s coaching staff made four changes to the starting lineup. In the supporting zone, Kalyuzhny came out instead of Brazhko, Shaparenko and Zubkova were replaced by Zinchenko and Gutsulyak, and at the forefront of the attack, Dovbik gave way to Yaremchuk. Vanat did not have time to recover from the injury and was not included in our team’s entry.
After the starting whistle, the blue-and-yellows took possession of the territorial advantage, and the home team focused on defensive actions. The Ukrainians quickly created the first scoring chance at the opponents’ goal and the main thing is that they converted it. Yaremchuk’s shot from outside the penalty area was blocked by Ismaili, but the ball bounced to Zinchenko, who fired right into the corner.
Before the “eagles” had time to move away from this development of events, the second ball ended up in their goal. After Sudakov’s cross, Konoplya jumped over Mitai and made a pass for Yaremchuk, who doubled our team’s lead with a header.
The situation forced the Albanians to actively look for ways to get to the Ukrainian team’s penalty area, and they periodically tried to find free zones in our half of the field. Sergei Rebrov’s team gave the ball to the Eagles, but through pressing they put pressure on their opponents. The Albanians created the first sharp chance near our goal in the middle of the half, when Lyaci shot from the corner of the penalty area near the near post.
The hosts did not have enough attacking power for long, and the “blue-and-yellows” again seized the territorial advantage. The Albanians could not get a hold of the ball and were forced to spend a lot of effort on tackling. But before the break, the situation at our goal was once again aggravated by Muchi, who slightly missed the target from outside the penalty area.
The Albanians started the second half of the match aggressively, trying to put pressure on the defensive formations of the Ukrainian team due to their intensity. A nuisance for the home team was the injury to Mucha, who was unable to continue the game. The activity of the opponents allowed the Ukrainians to find gaps in the Eagles’ half of the field and launch counterattacks. One of them ended with a good, but inaccurate strike from Sudakov. For the Albanians, let us remember a blow from a distance from Ajeti, which Trubin coped with in the fall.
The Ukrainians handled their opponents’ attacks quite confidently, but noticeably reduced their offensive activity. The blue-yellows failed to avoid a nervous ending to the match. Trubin played into Uzuni’s foot in our penalty area, and the referee pointed to the 11-meter mark. Bajrami converted the penalty with a cool blow.
Subsequently, the Albanians were no longer able to escalate the game at our goal, and the “blue-yellows” almost increased their advantage in stoppage time. Strakosha played reliably after Sudakov’s strike, and then reacted to Nazarenko’s strike. The Ukrainian team won, took second place in the group and will play in the playoffs for access to League A.
League of Nations. Group B1. Round 6
Albania – Ukraine – 1:2
Goals: Bayrami, 75, pen – Zinchenko, 5, Yaremchuk, 10
Warning: Bayrami, 68, Mitai, 79, Tutsi, 80 – Dovbik, 79
Albania: Strakosha – Balyu, Ayeti, Ismaili, Mitai – Aslani, Ramadani (Tuti, 76), Lechi (Seferi, 90) – Asani (Bairami, 46), Daku (Uzuni, 46), Muchi (Khoja, 51)
Ukraine: Trubin – Hemp (Sych, 81), Zabarny, Matvienko, Mykolenko – Kalyuzhny, Zinchenko (Shaparenko, 69) – Gutsulyak (Nazarenko, 86), Sudakov, Mudrik (Taloverov, 86) – Yaremchuk (Dovbik, 76)
Arbitrator: Joao Pinheiro (Portugal)
Stadium: Kombetare (Tirana, Albania)
ALBANIA – UKRAINE. TEXT BROADCAST OF THE MATCH
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