In the last Quarter-Final, both teams looked to punch their ticket to the Semi-Final. England coming off a spectacular win over Germany had jumped to the favorites to make the final on their side of the bracket. Ukraine scraped past Sweden with a last-minute goal in extra time to advance. England looked like the clear favorites of this game, but Ukraine is no easy task.
As soon as the game began, it was evident England was the better side. They had all the possession in the first 4 minutes, and they were off to the perfect start. Sterling, after dribbling down the flank, cut inside towards the middle. He played a beautiful through ball in the path of Harry Kane, who scored his second goal of the tournament. It was 1-0 England. After this bad start, Ukraine started to settle down. After a cheap giveaway, Andriy Yarmelenko dribbled towards the goal and had his shot saved by Jordan Pickford. Outside of these mistakes, Ukraine could not get anything dangerous from. England had a couple of chances through Declan Rice and Jadon Sancho, but the half ended 1-0 in England's advantage.
Ukraine was thankful the scoreline was only 1-0 and was not in a massive hole. The game was far from over for them. If they could capitalize on England’s mistakes, this game would be level. England was in the driver's seat and was in a good position. Nonetheless, they would prefer to have more than a one-goal cushion. The only aspect they needed to improve on was keeping their play clean defensively and not allowing Ukraine to get free chances.
Unfortunately for Ukraine, they were not off to a good start. Within 10 seconds in the half, Serhiy Sydorchuk fouled Harry Kane in a good position. From the resulting free-kick, Luke Shaw curled the ball onto the head of Harry Maguire, who doubled England's lead. The timing of the run and the cross were both perfect, and England had started both halves in an ideal way. Five minutes later, the game was practically over. Mason Mount made a darting run and gave the ball up to Raheem Sterling, who laid the ball off for Luke Shaw. His cross found the head of Harry Kane, who got his second and England’s third. They could taste the Semi-Final now. With this goal, England brought on Jordan Henderson for Declan Rice to help secure the game. In the 62nd minute, Kane almost completed his hattrick with an incredible left-footed volley, but Heorhiy Bushchan pushed the ball out for a corner. Mount curled the ball into Jordan Henderson’s head, and it was 4-0. Henderson had scored his first goal for England, and this was the last main event of the game. England brought on Jude Bellingham, Marcus Rashford, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, for Shaw, Sterling, and Kane. England controlled the rest of the game and let the clock dwindle to 90 minutes. The full-time whistle blew, and the score read England 4-0 Ukraine.
Many things were learned from this game. To start, Ukraine had a roller-coaster tournament and a nice run to reach the quarter-finals. Many people did not think they would make it this far. Their star performers have been their goalie Heorhiy Bachchan, left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko, and forward Andriy Yarmolenko. They all had great tournaments and were a big part of Ukraine reaching this stage. England had significantly more expectations and has been up for the challenge so far. Defensively they have been the best team in the tournament. They are the only team to allow 0 goals. The pairing of Maguire, Stones, and Pickford has been building a wall around the goal. Luke Shaw has also been good offensively and defensively. However, the only time they have looked vulnerable has been when they give the ball away and unforced errors. The only other problem they may have had was scoring goals. However, after putting four past Ukraine, this may not be the case. Kane has found his form, and Sterling has already been playing well. With the likes of Jack Grealish on the bench, they look like massive favorites. Overall, Ukraine has been a great team, and England looks like they will win the whole tournament.
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