Euro 2024: Romania wins by a wide margin against Ukraine with two long shots

Les Roumains peuvent exulter avec leur large victoire contre l'Ukraine. dpa – Sven Hoppe

The Romanians outclassed the Ukrainians (3-0) for the first match in Euro 2024 in Group E, Monday June 17. 

Ideally launched by a superb strike from Nicolae Stanciu, Romania outclassed Ukraine on Monday afternoon in Munich (3-0) for its entry into the Euro -2024 and takes a good option for the round of 16. In this group E, Romelu Lukaku's Belgium is the favorite for first place, while Romania, Ukraine and Slovakia will fight for second and third place.

🇷🇴😱 OH LE BUT DE FOU DE LA ROUMANIE !!!!
🚀🕸️ Stanciu vient nettoyer la lucarne d'Andriy Lunin après une mauvaise relance du gardien ukrainien !#EURO2024 #ROUUKR pic.twitter.com/4e6PvifP8u

— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) June 17, 2024

Only the top two and the four best third-placed teams from the six groups will qualify for the knockout phase. This meeting under the blazing Munich sun was marked by a strong geopolitical context, since Ukraine has been at war since February 24, 2022 and the invasion of the country by Russia.

Serhyi Rebrov's players repeated before the start of the match that they wanted to play for the soldiers defending the country. This heavy setback complicates their task towards the round of 16. Exiled since September 2023 in the very lucrative Saudi Pro League in Saudi Arabia at Damac FC, Romanian captain Nicolae Stanciu was the great architect of his team's victory.

The Ukrainians overwhelmed in the second half 

After having bowed down for 25 minutes, Romania took advantage of a poorly negotiated restart by Real Madrid's Ukrainian goalkeeper Andriy Lunin to open the scoring shortly before the half -hour of play. Dennis Man recovered the ball and served Stanciu, whose curling shot landed in the right corner of Lunin (29th).

The 31-year-old midfielder came close to scoring a double about ten minutes later. After his blocked attempt which came up short of Lunin's post, Stanciu attempted a direct corner, which hit the crossbar of Lunin, who was beaten on the spot. Dominant in possession of the ball in the first period, the Ukrainians lacked realism in front of Florin Nita's goal, facing a well-established Romanian defense.

In the second half, the Ukrainians were completely overwhelmed. Razvan Marin took advantage of an error from Lunin to double the lead (53rd) with a shot from 20 meters, to the delight of the Tricolorii supporters, in clear superiority among the 66,000 spectators in the stadium from Munich. Four minutes later, it was Denis Dragus who added to the bill for Ukraine.