First-half goals help Ukraine edge North Macedonia
Yarmolenko #Yarmolenko
Two goals in five minutes midway through the first half gave Ukraine its first win of Euro 2020, edging North Macedonia 2-1 and getting their first win at the Euro since 2012.
Andriy Yarmolenko scored in the 29th before Roman Yaremchuk added a second in the 34th minute. Ezgjan Alioski scored for North Macedonia in the second half.
Both teams missed second-half penalties.
For the opener, West Ham’s Yarmolenko met Oleksandr Karavaev’s flick on from a corner to tap in midway through the first half. It was Yarmolenko’s 42nd goal for his country, six back of the all-time record held by current Ukraine manager Andriy Shevchenko.
Five minutes later, Yaremchuk beat the offside trap to meet Yarmolenko’s ball and slide past Stole Dimitrievski at the near post to make it 2-0.