The Ukraine U-23 football team defeated Morocco in a dramatic match in the second round of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Match Ukraine — Morocco took place in Saint-Etienne at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard and ended with a score of 2:1.
Ukraine beat Morocco in a football match at the Olympics
After losing to Iraq in the first match, Ruslan Rotan's team would have lost their theoretical chances of advancing from the group to the playoffs at the Olympics in the event of a second defeat. While any other result, including a victory, would have left the Ukrainians in the fight for the quarterfinals.
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In the first half, the Moroccans had more possession of the ball, but it was the blue-and-yellows who were more active in the opponent's penalty area. The Ukrainian team made seven shots at the opponent's goal, three of which were on target. While the Moroccans had three shots in total and none on target.
Rotan's charges opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, when a cross from Maxim Bragar was closed by Dmytro Kryskiv.
Maxim Khlan had two chances to score, but his shots were stopped by the goalkeeper. And before going on break Arseniy Batagov sent the kulyasty over the goal.
In the second half the Moroccans were much more active — 14 shots (4 on target) against four (2) shots from the Ukrainians
The opponent managed to equalize the score thanks to a penalty, which began to resemble the scenario of the match with Iraq. However, this time for a foul of the last hope Volodymyr Saluk was sent off and the Ukrainians were left in the minority. The penalty kick was converted by Sufyan Rahimi.
It should be noted that immediately after the removal, the coaching staff immediately changed the game plan, replacing three players. Subsequently, the blue-yellows created a chance, but after the kick, the ball ended up at the feet of the opponent's goalkeeper.
The historic first victory in the football competition at the Olympics was snatched for the Ukrainian team by Igor Krasnopir. This happened in the eighth minute of stoppage time. The referees reviewed the VAR after the goal-scoring episode, but the goal was eventually counted.
Thus, Ukraine has three points in Group B after two rounds. In the final round of the group stage, the blue-yellows will play Argentina, which beat Iraq (3:1) in a parallel match. The game will take place on July 30.
