The China Mail - Mudryk sends war-torn Ukraine to Euro 2024

Second-half strikes from Viktor Tsygankov and Mykhailo Mudryk turned around the game for Serhiy Rebrov's side, who trailed at the break following Albert Gudmundsson's opener.

The hosts Ukraine, playing in the Polish city of Wroclaw due to the ongoing conflict, began the brighter of the two sides and dominated possession in the opening 10 minutes.

However, it was Iceland who nearly broke the deadlock in the 14th minute when a great run by Hakon Arnar Haraldsson gave Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson the chance to test Andriy Lunin in the Ukraine goal.

Rebrov's men responded instantly at the other end but Vitaliy Mykolenko shanked his left-footed strike when in a good position inside the box.

Gudmundsson made the breakthrough on the half-hour mark with a sublime solo effort for his 10th goal in an Iceland shirt.

The 26-year-old slalomed away from two Ukrainian defenders before feeding a perfectly placed curling effort with his left foot beyond the reach of Lunin from 25 yards.

Six minutes later, 21-year-old Ukrainian playmaker Georgiy Sudakov stung the palms of Hakon Rafn Valdimarsson at the near post following a poor defensive clearance by Iceland.

The hosts then thought they were back on terms in the 39th minute when Roman Yaremchuk tucked home Tsygankov's cross.

But after wild celebrations from the Ukraine fans, the goal was chalked off after VAR adjudged Tsygankov to have previously been offside from Sudakov's clipped pass.

Ukraine were firmly on top for the remainder of the first half as play began to become more physical, with Ruslan Malinovskyi picking up a yellow card for an elbow on Haraldsson immediately after the decision to disallow Ukraine's equaliser.

Tsygankov made amends for his earlier offside when he powered Ukraine level nine minutes into the second half.

Sudakov was again at the heart of things and his pinpoint crossfield ball found the winger on the right, who drove inside on his left foot and beat Valdimarsson with a left-footed strike inside the far post.

With just under 20 minutes to play, Ukraine nearly completed the turnaround, but Mykolenko again failed to make the most of a good position in the box and poked his finish wide of the post.

Real Madrid stopper Lunin produced a superb save to deny Thorsteinsson from close range on 77 minutes, before Gudmundsson dragged wide one minute later when in a dangerous position.

Iceland looked to be the more likely to score until Mudryk found space 18 yards out and swept Sudakov's lay-off into the far corner of the goal with just six minutes remaining on the clock.

Ukraine will head to the European Championship in Germany this summer, where they will take on Belgium, Slovakia and Romania in Group E.

A.Zhang--ThChM