Slovakia 1 Ukraine 2 – Yaremchuk’s nimble finish, a stirring comeback and the joy of watching Lobotka

Ukraine roared back from a goal down to defeat Slovakia and put the cat among the pigeons in Group E at Euro 2024.

After being thumped 3-0 by Romania in their opening match of the tournament, Ukraine could have been forgiven for fearing the worst when Ivan Schranz gave Slovakia the lead but Mykola Shaparenko levelled things up early in the second half before Roman Yaremchuk’s deft winner completed their comeback.

Jacob Whitehead, Dermot Corrigan and Nick Miller analyse the main talking points from Dusseldorf.

Yaremchuk’s decisive feather touch

Three days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, a moment of rare beauty emerged from the suffering — Roman Yaremchuk was substituted on by Benfica and rewarded with both the captain’s armband and a standing ovation.

🇺🇦 This moment… Speachless! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/EpgNydnZer

— SL Benfica (@slbenfica_en) February 27, 2022

With 10 minutes left in Dusseldorf, he provided his own moment of beauty for his country.

It looked as if nothing could be done with a long and slightly aimless ball into the right-hand channel, but Yaremchuk cushioned it with silk, caressing rather than controlling.

With Martin Dubravka rushing out, Yaremchuk’s final touch was more functional — a toe that wormed its way towards the line — but for the Ukrainian fans behind the goal, its slow pace suspended reality.

You could forgive the Ukraine players for being pretty emotional at the end of a game that for the firs -half, at least, looked like it would signal the end of their tournament. Afterwards, they made their way over to the fans congregated behind one of the goals and amid the warm hugs and congratulations, began a ritual not-unlike-the-Icelandic ‘thunderclap’, popularised eight years ago at Euro 2016.

There, it felt intimidating to any opposition fans or players watching. In this case, it felt more joyous: a group of players who have suffered along with their people coming together for a moment of celebration. Even if they go no further in Germany, they will always have that moment.

Roman Yaremchuk scores Ukraine’s winning goal (Lars Baron/Getty Images)

Jacob Whitehead and Nick Miller

Goalkeepers Trubin and Dubravka share the spotlight

Both goalkeepers came into the game under the spotlight and Ukraine’s Anatoliy Trubin and Slovakia’s Martin Dubravka had eventful afternoons.

Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin started the tournament as Ukraine’s number one but was dropped after two mistakes in their 3-0 defeat to Romania in their opening game.

Benfica’s Trubin came in and had some early confidence-boosters — first stopping a near-post Lukas Haraslin drive with his foot, then making a top reflex stop when Schranz seemed sure to score a point-blank volley.

But Trubin — once a target for Inter Milan — will have felt he could have done better with Slovakia’s opener. Although not the most to blame as his defence did not react to a quick throw-in, the 22-year-old still might have got a stronger hand to keep out Schranz’s header.

Anatoliy Trubin replaced Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin in goal for Ukraine (Rolf Vennenbernd/picture alliance via Getty Images)

With Ukraine needing to score to stay in the tournament, attention soon switched to the other end.

First, Dubravka finger-tipped Oleksandr Tymchyk’s piledriver on to the post, then sprang from his line to deny Mykhailo Mudryk when the Chelsea man was through one-on-one.

There was not much Dubravka could do about Ukraine’s well-worked equaliser, but he will not enjoy another look at Yaremchuk’s winning goal.

The substitute’s control of a dropping ball was excellent, but the Slovakia goalkeeper was slow to move his feet and could not then react when the ball was poked agonisingly past him to the net.

Dubravka made headlines at Euro 2020 when punching the ball to his own net during a 5-0 defeat to Spain. It left the cameras focused again on the 35 year old — not good timing given he could be looking to move on from Newcastle this summer.

Dermot Corrigan

The joy of watching Stanislav Lobotka

“This is my sen,” said Stanislav Lobotka, famously, upon signing for Ajax in 2013. His intermingling of the Slovak language with English — “sen” directly translates as “dream” — went viral back in Slovakia.

But he should have waited 11 more years because his beginning to the tournament must be his sen.

In Slovakia’s opening two games, Lobotka has been superb. Man of the match against Belgium, Lobotka could have easily won it again until Ukraine’s late comeback — he is at the heart of everything they do well.

Playing as the single-pivot in Slovakia’s three-man midfield (which has a combined age of 95), Lobotka shuttles along the front of the defence in the mould of N’Golo Kante, his high-shouldered run giving him a crab-like quality. But on the subject of lateral movement, his quick feet around the edge of opponents allow him to slide away from markers and put Slovakia’s overlapping full-backs into space.

Slovakia manager Francesco Calzona has based his side on Napoli — Lobotka’s current club — and his defensive nous as a space-eater allows them to immediately set up with width.

Late in the first-half, for instance, Mudryk broke upfield. The crowd rose — but before their final buttock hairs had left their plastic seats, Lobotka eased him off the ball before knocking it on with the nonchalance of a babicka (grandmother) sweeping her front doorstep.

Slovakia’s Stanislav Lobotka impressed against Ukraine (Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images)

Jacob Whitehead

Mykhailo Mudryk remains raw but with signs of promise

You have to feel sorry for Mudryk, in some respects.

Really, he should have been a signing for a Premier League club that could have afforded to let him develop quietly, for a coach to work with on the technical and tactical aspects of his game to complement his obvious physical gifts.

Instead, he signed for Chelsea in January 2023 and a young, raw player was essentially left to complete his education in public. It’s hardly a surprise that he has looked lost for most of the 18 months he’s been in London. The generous interpretation is that he is a work in progress but one worth persisting with given his explosive pace. Until then, he will be frustrating.

But he also showed here that he can still be a useful, if unrefined, outlet.

Ukraine tipped the game on its head when they equalised, and while Oleksandr Zinchenko provided the assist and Shaparenko the finish, it was Mudryk that created the chance with his blistering forward run on the counter-attack.

Mudryk will remain frustrating as long as his technical issues are not ironed out, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still be a dangerous player.

Nick Miller

Where does this result leave Slovakia and Ukraine?

Ukraine’s win over Slovakia today gives them a vital three points to lift them off the bottom of the table and up to second place.

Romania, Ukraine and Slovakia all have three points each. Belgium, who will be hoping Romelu Lukaku finds his feet in front of goal at this tournament sooner rather than later, take on Romania on June 22.

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The winners of this group will take on a third-placed side in Munich on July 2; the runners-up will face the team who come second in Group D the day before in Dusseldorf.

What next for Slovakia?

Wednesday, June 26: Romania (Frankfurt), 5pm BST, noon ET

What next for Ukraine?

Wednesday, June 26: Belgium (Stuttgart), 5pm BST, noon ET