Ukraine’s Talovierov and Mudryk knock out France in EURO U21 semi-finals

Ukraine U21 is having a great EURO. After comfortably advancing from the group, they ran into France in the quarterfinals and surprisingly knocked out a big favorite with star names.

As usual, France brought one of the strongest teams to the tournament. The Gallic country is brimming with young talent and regularly ranks among the favourites at the U21 EURO.

Even in the quarter-final against Ukraine they were clear favourites, which was further boosted by Lyon striker Rayan Cherki’s opening goal in the 19th minute.

But Ukraine also had their big star. Mikhailo Mudryk only sat on the bench in the regular group due to injury, but he has recovered for the play-offs and made his presence felt.

The 100 million Chelsea reinforcement first won a penalty which was converted by Sudakov, then Mudryk also notched an assist on Sudakov’s second goal before half-time.

France finally equalised in the 81st minute when Elye Wahi pushed the ball into the net, only for VAR to later cancel the goal out due to offside.

Artem Bondarenko added an insurance goal just before the end and Ukraine beat France 3-1. A very good performance was scored by Maksym Talovjerov, the Prague Slavia stopper on loan at LASK, who managed the defence with experience from the stopper position.

In the semi-finals, the Ukrainians will face Spain, whom they have already played in the group stage. La Roja drew 2-2 in the last minute of the match to take the top spot in the group by a scoreline. The second semi-final will feature Israel and England.

Source: UEFA