Poland vs Ukraine - Tactical Report

Ukraine put in its best showing of the tournament but wasteful finishing from Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Zozulya among others meant that it goes home without a goal or a point.

Published : Jun 22, 2016 16:05 IST

The co-hosts of Euro 2012 went head to head in a Group C clash in Marseille and the Poles came out on top to set up a last-16 clash with Switzerland. Young guns Bartosz Kapustka and Piotr Zielinski started in midfield for Poland while Roman Zozulya was restored to the Ukraine lineup to spearhead its attack.

Arkadiusz Milik and Robert Lewandowski's presence up front meant that Poland continued with its 4-4-2 formation with Kapustka and Zielinski starting out wide as wingers but coming infield when required to make it a diamond in midfield. Ukraine also stuck to its 4-2-3-1 formation with the main threat coming from the wide areas in the form of Andriy Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka.

Ukraine put in its best showing of the tournament but wasteful finishing from Yarmolenko and Zozulya among others meant that it goes home without a goal or a point. It was a very open game with both teams going for the win, but profligacy was the theme of the night with Milik and Lewandowski also failing to cover themselves in glory.

The goal came from a short corner taken by Kapustka who played it to Milik. The Ajax forward came infield before playing a reverse pass to Jakub Blaszczykowski who curled in a left-footed shot into the top corner through a swarm of Ukrainian bodies (see picture) .

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