Ukraine's national team defeated North Macedonia in the 7th round, winning its third victory in the qualifiers for the 2024 European Football Championship. The nominally home match at the Czech Republic's largest stadium, Epet Arena, ended with a score of 2-0.

The Ukrainians seized the initiative from the first seconds, trying to organize attacks on the flanks. First, Zubkov on the right, and then Mykolenko on the left, tried to aggravate the situation at Dimitrievski's goal.

In the 16th minute, a three-man move by the Ukrainians brought Mykhailo Mudryk into the attack. The Chelsea midfielder broke through the flang and played one-on-one with the goalkeeper but failed to beat the opponent.

North Macedonia could not establish control of the ball, defending most of the game. Ukraine used the left flank, where it loaded Mudryk every time. Together with Mykolenko, the Ukrainians were a formidable force.

In the 21st minute, the Macedonians were able to organize the first attack. Bojan Miovski ran into a quick breakthrough but his shot was deflected by Trubin.

In the 30th minute, the hosts turned their territorial advantage into a game advantage. Heorhiy Sudakov took the ball on the outskirts of the opponent's penalty area, played with Zinchenko, and shot powerfully into the corner. The ball hit Serafimov, changed direction and calmly flew into the net.

After scoring the goal, the Ukrainians relaxed, paying the price afterward. Macedonia stormed Trubin's defense and came close to equalizing. First, Bardi's shot was blocked by Zabarnyi, and then Ashkovski got his great chance, but the Yellow and Blue goalkeeper played flawlessly.

It seemed like the Ukrainian players had already gone to the locker room in their minds, while the Macedonians kept rolling and rolling.

The second half began with attacks by our guests. Blagoja Milevski's wards played great in our half of the field, keeping the Ukrainians on their toes, and the Yellow and Blue defense had a hard time dealing with the opponents' attacks. Darko Churlinov had a chance to score in the 54th minute but Trubin's fantastic save prevented it.

In response, Mudryk got a great chance to double the lead but he also failed to beat the goalkeeper. After a corner kick, it was the crossbar that Dovbyk hit that saved the visitors.

The end of the match was an equalizer, where both teams had a chance to score. However, the score changed only in the last seconds.

Oleksandr Karavaev, who replaced Mudryk in the 88th minute, scored. In the 6th added minute, the Dynamo defender saw that the goalkeeper was far out of position and doubled the lead with a shot from 40 meters.

After this victory, the Ukrainian national team moved up to second place in Group C, 3 points ahead of Italy. The latter will play their next match against Malta later.

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