#Euro2020 Review: MATCHDAY 7
Day 7 of #Euro2020 brought us three games today. It was a day full of thrilling matches and some games that made us sad. We seen a game between Ukraine and North Macedonia, then we saw Denmark and Belgium. And we ended the day with Netherlands and Austria.
Ukraine vs North Macedonia | Group C – Matchday 2 | Bucharest, Romania
Going into this game, we were excepting Ukraine to take care of business and that is what happened. After Matchday 1, Ukraine had momentum coming into this game because of a comeback that ended short versus the Netherlands. Scored 2 goals in a ten-minute span and then lost off of a header.
Anyways, back to this game. Ukraine starts off this game with a goal in the 29th minute. The goal was scored by West Ham Forward Andriy Yarmolenko. The goal was scored off of a corner kick, then it was flicked on by Dynamo Kiev Defender Oleksandr Karavaev. Then the ball was in front of Yarmolenko, and he puts the ball in the net and gives Ukraine a early 1-0 lead.
Ukraine will continue their dominance in the first half with another goal, just five minutes later. The goal was scored by KAA Gent Forward Roman Yaremchuk. A great through ball by Yarmolenko gives Yaremchuk a one-on-one with the North Macedonia Goalkeeper and Yaremchuk places the ball into the bottom right corner and gives Ukraine a 2-0 lead going into halftime.
A substitution was made by North Macedonia at halftime, and it seemed to help. They played much better in the second half. They would eventually score after a bad challenge in the 18-yard box, that would led to a penalty kick. Leeds United Midfielder Ezgjan Alioski took the penalty and missed it, but he got the rebound and puts the ball into the back of the net. Makes it a 2-1 lead for Ukraine in the 57th minute. North Macedonia gets a goal back but does not score another goal and Ukraine survives a North Macedonia comeback after multiple chances in the second half to equalize.
Ukraine out-possess North Macedonia 52%-48% and led the game in shots on goal 8 to 5. This was a big game for the Ukrainians. Their comeback came up short in Matchday 1. So, they needed to get some points and this three points is huge for them.
Moves Ukraine into second place in Group C.
Denmark vs Belgium | Group B – Matchday 2 | Copenhagen, Denmark
This game was bound to be emotion no matter what way you look at it. This was definitely the best game in this whole group. The game would have been different with Christian Eriksen, but stuff happens unfortunately.
The first goal came earlier than I thought it would. A mistake in the Belgian defense leads to this goal. The goal was scored by RB Leipzig Forward Yussuf Poulsen. The goal was assisted by Tottenham Hotspur Midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. What a start for the Danish. At the tenth minute, they honored Christian Erikson. Then the best possible thing happened for Belgium.
At the start of the second half, Manchester City Midfielder Kevin De Bruyne was subbed on. He recently was declared fit after a facial injury in the Champions League Final vs Chelsea. De Bruyne caused both of the Belgium goals.
The first one was spectacular play by a few Belgians. After a great run by Inter Milan Forward Romelu Lukaku, he passed the ball right to De Bruyne and then took a touch and passed the ball, the ball played by De Bruyne gave Borussia Dortmund Forward Thorgan Hazard a wide-open net to slam the ball into. And just like that the game was tied at the 54th minute mark. And then the ultimate winner happened. A pass from Real Madrid Forward Eden Hazard to Kevin De Bruyne finished the game in the 70th minute. De Bruyne scored on a shot from outside of the 18-yard box.
Each team had chances to score again but ultimately did not. The game ended 2-1 in favor of Belgium. This game was great throughout. I was hoping Denmark would have won just because of what happened to Christian Erikson but at the end. I was happy that it was a great game.
Belgium only out-possessed Denmark 53%-47%. Denmark actually almost had quadruple the shots that Denmark had. 22:6 ratio. That is a stat I did not think I would see today.
With that win, Belgium is top of Group C, and they have qualified for the Round of 16.
Netherlands vs Austria | Group C – Matchday 2 | Amsterdam, Netherlands
And finally, we got the final game of Matchday 7.
After a big mistake by Real Madrid Defender David Alaba. Netherlands got a penalty and Alaba got showed a yellow card. Lyon Forward Memphis Depay placed the penalty into the bottom left corner and Netherlands lead 1-0. The Austrian Goalkeeper dives the right way but does not save it.
The person that went down for the penalty, PSV Defender Denzel Dumfries. He would end up scoring the second goal for the Dutch after an unselfish pass from PSV Forward and substitute Donyell Malen.
Not much happened after the second goal for Netherlands. Like the last two games, each team had opportunities to score but nothing came out of it. Surprisingly, Austria out-possessed Netherlands 53%-47%. The weakness of Austria was their shots on goal. They only had one shot on goal throughout the whole game.
With that win for the Dutch, they are booking their spot in the last-16.
The Group is now looking like Netherlands in first, Ukraine in second, Austria in third, and North Macedonia in fourth. If North Macedonia wants any chance for hope to make it to the last-16. They will have to beat the Netherlands by at least two goals and hope for a similar result in the Austria and Ukraine game.
Check back here tomorrow for another update just like this one on the previous days' matches! Also follow us at @SSN_Soccer for more up-to-date content from #Euro2020 and Copa America!