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Romania vs Ukraine live updates: Stanciu, Marin and Dragus goals seal impressive Euro 2024 win
'The next game...will be more serious'
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Ukraine head coach Serhiy Rebrov has given his rather curt assessment, after a horrible opening to their European Championship:
💬 “Unfortunately we lost, we will analyse it and talk with the players. But this is not the last game for us. I’m sure we made some mistakes and we lost in some components of the game, and that’s why we lost.
“I felt we started well. But we had some problems and unfortunately at the Euros, the teams have top players and we have to show our maximum if we want to get points here.
“Now we have to recover and prepare for the next game, which will be more serious than today.”
That next game is in Dusseldorf on Friday against Slovakia, who kick-off against Belgium shortly.
In fact, you can also follow Belgium vs Slovakia live with us at The Athletic, right here.
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Full-time stats zone
After a passive start, Nicolae Stanciu caught fire and so did Romania. Here are the full-time numbers…
FT: Romania 3-0 Ukraine
- Possession: 29% — 71%
- Shots: 9 — 13
- On target: 5 — 2
- XG: 1.10 — 0.55
- Blocked shots: 2 — 6
- Duels won: 37 — 42
- Dispossessed: 9 — 5
The possession figure never really changed after Ukraine’s early initiative. Romania were all about what they did with the ball when they had it, and if they sustain today’s levels of efficiency then they are going to make life difficult for a few teams at this championship.
Stanciu’s scorcher, defensive steel and a memorable win
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So, Romania have returned to European Championship football in rip-roaring style with a historic victory over Ukraine in Munich.
Edward Iordanescu’s side failed to qualify for Euro 2020 and had only scored three goals in a Euros match once before — during their famous 3-2 win over England at Euro 2000.
But in Munich, they got their Euro 2024 campaign off to the perfect start courtesy of goals from Nicolae Stanciu, Razvan Marin and Denis Dragus.
Grab the link below and check out Seb Stafford-Bloor and Mark Critchley analysing the main talking points from a statement Romania win.
GO FURTHER
Romania 3 Ukraine 0 – Stanciu’s scorcher, defensive steel and a memorable Romanian triumph
A hidden gem of a game
I feel we were all rewarded for following that, with one of the goals of the tournament so far from Nicolae Stanciu and a special day for Romanian football.
That is the first time Romania have won any game at the Euros since beating England in 2000, which was their only time in the knockout stages.
They could well go onto match that feat in 2024, on this evidence.
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Ukraine still plugging away
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90' Romania 3-0 Ukraine
A couple of Ukraine corners come and ago, one of them drifting just wide of the far post after Puscas’ attempted clearing header.
The sun has almost left the pitch now but fair play to Ukraine. They haven’t stopped trying.
Four minutes of added time left now.
A star is born in Stanciu
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88' Romania 3-0 Ukraine
Nicolae Stanciu hands the captain’s armband over to Razvan Marin and applauds the Romania fans — they’re all standing — as he makes way for Bogdan Racovitan.
What a brilliant start to this tournament from the Romania skipper. And what a wonderful goal to kick us off today.
Mudryk misses a big chance on the run
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84' Romania 3-0 Ukraine
That’s a great chance and a bad miss in truth.
Finally, Dovbyk appears with the ball. He’s had a really quiet second half.
He pops a slide-rule pass left for the on-running Mudryk, but he fires his left-footed shot high, wide and off-target.
Chelsea fans will be nodding at that one.
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Dragusin the firm fans' favourite
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75' Romania 3-0 Ukraine
Dragusin is getting huge ovations for every challenge and clearance. Boy, do the Romanian fans love him.
As for the excellent Denis Dragus up front, he gets a well-earned rest as George Puscas comes on.
Adrian Rus is also on the pitch now, for Marius Marin.
Ukraine rallying amid disappointment
71' Romania 3-0 Ukraine
The reaction has come from Ukraine since the changes. Yarmolenko has fired one effort over the bar and Sudakov sees his free-kick deflect off Dragusin.
The corner leads to little, leading to a fourth change for Ukraine.
Oleksandr Tymchyk is now on, replacing Konoplia.
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How Razvan Marin made it two for Romania
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53' Romania 2-0 Ukraine
Again it’s a right-footed first time hit from Razvan Marin. This time probably from 30 yards out and low.
It comes after a swift, composed break that has Ukraine scrambling to catch up.
But the real issue is goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who seems to dive over the shot rather than save it.
With the first — albeit stunning — goal also coming from his poor clearance, this is not the major tournament debut the Real Madrid stopper would’ve hoped for.