Ukraine put months of misery behind them for 90 minutes at Hampden Park on Wednesday night, as they beat home side Scotland to move to the 2022 FIFA World Cup playoff final.
Originally scheduled to be played in March, the game had to be moved to a later date following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. As such, emotions ran high when Oleksandr Petrakov’s team took their place at Hampden Park, looking to reach their first World Cup finals since 2006.
Firmly the better side in the opening period, Ukraine would’ve had an early lead if not for Scotland custodian Craig Gordon. The 39-year-old kept Viktor Tsygankov out with a superb acrobatic save in the eighth minute, turning the attacker’s shot over the bar before denying Andriy Yarmolenko from close range in the 17th.
Nonetheless, Ukraine’s early dominance paid off in the 33rd minute when Yarmolenko raced behind the Scotland defence and lifted Ruslan Malinovskyi’s long pass over an onrushing Gordon to the delight of those sporting yellow and blue inside the stadium.
Petrakov’s men doubled their advantage just minutes after the restart through their towering forward Roman Yaremchuk; the striker nodded the ball past the goalkeeper from close range from a delightful Oleksandr Karavaev cross.
Scotland grew into the game from that point on. John McGinn spurned a gilt-edged opportunity to pull a goal back in the 67th minute when he put the ball just wide of the post from six yards out with a header.
However, the home side did give their fans something to cheer about in the 79th minute when Callum McGregor found a way to squeeze the ball past Heorhiy Bushchan – with a little help from the goalkeeper himself.
Regardless, Scotland’s delight was short-lived as Artem Dovbyk wrapped up a win in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, running onto a threaded through pass by Oleksandr Zinchenko and finishing coolly past Gordon.
An emotional win for Ukraine, given the geopolitical context. The team is now just a win away from reaching the World Cup finals, but in their way stands a resolute Welsh side with Gareth Bale as its spearhead. The Welsh Dragons will take on Ukraine at Cardiff City Stadium on June 5.
