The enthusiastic home crowd at the Donbass Arena could not inspire Ukraine’s national football team on Friday night.
The game was called off after four minutes due to thunder and heavy rain. It resumed at the top of the hour after the Donbass Arena’s drainage system restored the state of the pitch.
Ukraine’s defence remained tight at the back, leaving Benzema and company with very little room to shoot. Shevchenko had a few chances at the other end of the field but he was overall well contained by Laurent Blanc’s French team. At the break, nothing could separate the two sides.
Les Bleus found their rhythm in the second period with Franck Ribery providing a man-of-the-match performance. His bursting runs upfront confused the Ukrainians who also had to deal with Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Jeremy Menez.
Earlier in the first period, the latter had a goal rightfully disallowed for offside. He also tested goalkeeper Pyatov with a strike from close range inside the 28th minute.
Finally, Jeremy Menez got third time lucky and broke the deadlock after 53 minutes with a well-taken opportunity.
Yohan Cabaye doubled France’s lead three minutes later to inflict misery on the expecting home crowd and team. The Ukrainians seemed disheartened by the harsh score line. They created a few attacking chances but their poor finishing never troubled France’s Hugo Lloris.
Ukraine must now think about beating England in their final group game. The bad news for the UEFA Euro 2012 co-hosts is that they will have to face an English team powered by the introduction of striker Wayne Rooney.
Coach Oleh Blokhin needs to reorganize his team before they suffer a bad end to their dream start at UEFA Euro 2012. Meanwhile, France have taken a giant step towards the quarter-final stage of the competition.
Having successfully overcome Ukraine's home crowd advantage, Les Bleus will not lack confidence in their final match against the Swedes.
Ukraine’s defence remained tight at the back, leaving Benzema and company with very little room to shoot. Shevchenko had a few chances at the other end of the field but he was overall well contained by Laurent Blanc’s French team. At the break, nothing could separate the two sides.
Les Bleus found their rhythm in the second period with Franck Ribery providing a man-of-the-match performance. His bursting runs upfront confused the Ukrainians who also had to deal with Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Jeremy Menez.
Earlier in the first period, the latter had a goal rightfully disallowed for offside. He also tested goalkeeper Pyatov with a strike from close range inside the 28th minute.
Finally, Jeremy Menez got third time lucky and broke the deadlock after 53 minutes with a well-taken opportunity.
Yohan Cabaye doubled France’s lead three minutes later to inflict misery on the expecting home crowd and team. The Ukrainians seemed disheartened by the harsh score line. They created a few attacking chances but their poor finishing never troubled France’s Hugo Lloris.
Ukraine must now think about beating England in their final group game. The bad news for the UEFA Euro 2012 co-hosts is that they will have to face an English team powered by the introduction of striker Wayne Rooney.
Coach Oleh Blokhin needs to reorganize his team before they suffer a bad end to their dream start at UEFA Euro 2012. Meanwhile, France have taken a giant step towards the quarter-final stage of the competition.
Having successfully overcome Ukraine's home crowd advantage, Les Bleus will not lack confidence in their final match against the Swedes.
