Euro 2020: Ukraine 2-1 North Macedonia - Ukraine edge incident-packed game

1. Ukraine edge entertaining game to record their first win of Euro 2020
2. Yarmolenko taps Ukraine in front, Yaremchuk doubles lead
3. Alioski penalty saved but he smashes in rebound to give North Macedonia hope
4. Malinovskiy misses late penalty for Ukraine
5. Defeat leaves North Macedonia on brink of elimination
6. Group C match played in Bucharest, Romania

CLOSE!

North Macedonia struggle to clear from the corner and Stole Dimitrievski does well to get across to push behind an awkward Ruslan Malinovskiy shot that looked to be creeping in at the near post.

Best chance so far.

Pat Nevin

Former Scotland winger on BBC Radio 5 Live

I've no idea why Dimitrievski doesn't just catch it. The ball is right in front of his face, just catch it.

Darko Velkoski takes no chances as he stabs behind an Andriy Yarmolenko shot. It wasn't going on target but with Ukraine players getting into the box Velkoski wasn't risking it.

An acrobatic punch by Stole Dimitrievski to deal with a ball into the box before Oleksandr Karavaev volleys well over for Ukraine.

Eljif Elmas chases a ball over the top and that gets the North Macedonia fans going but he is just beaten to the ball by Georgi Bushchan.

Goran Pandev was struggling a bit in the warm up, he went down the tunnel early after hobbling about on the pitch. He looks OK at the moment but one to keep an eye on.

Plenty of Ukraine possession in the early minutes.

Pat Nevin

Former Scotland winger on BBC Radio 5 Live

That North Macedonia anthem was being sung with gusto, they were belting it out.

They were clearly very moved and there were some tears among the supporters in the stadium. This tournament clearly means a huge amount to them.

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KICK-OFF

Ukraine have lost their last six successive European Championship games. They were the first team to be eliminated from Euro 2016, but will they take a big step towards the knockouts today?

We're under way.

The players are out on the pitch and lining up for the national anthems.

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There's around 13,000 fans watching this one in the stands with the stadium at 25% capacity. Still making plenty of noise, though, as kick off approaches.

Ukraine's first-half woes

All four of Ukraine's goals at the European Championship have been scored in the second half, attempting 37 efforts at goal without success in the first half of matches.

They are the only nation to play at least five matches at the tournament and not score in the first half of a match.

Yarmolenko closing in on Shevchenko record

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Only current manager Andriy Shevchenko (48) has scored more goals for Ukraine than Andriy Yarmolenko (41), who is looking to score in three consecutive matches for his national side.

Pandev's staying power

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North Macedonia's Goran Pandev - who has scored 20 more goals than any other North Macedonian player in history (38) - netted his first international goal on 21 August 2002 against Malta in a friendly.

That was 11 days before Ukrainian centre-half Illia Zabarnyi was born (1 September 2002).

Team news

Ukraine are without winger Oleksandr Zubkov after he suffered a foot injury in the opening defeat by the Netherlands.

Goalscorers Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk and Manchester City's Oleksandr Zinchenko are among those who keep their place in the starting line-up.

Ukraine XI:Bushchan, Matvyenko, Zabarnyi, Mykolenko, Karavaev, Zinchenko, Stepanenko, Shaparenko, Yarmolenko, Malinovskiy, Yaremchuk.

Subs: Sobol, Sudakov, Kryvtsov, Sydorchuk, Marlos, Pyatov, Makarenko, Tsygankov, Besyedin, Trubin, Tymchyk, Dovbyk.

BBC Sport

BBC Sport

For North Macedonia, Stefan Spirovski earns a start in place of Aleksandar Trajkovski, as veteran striker Goran Pandev again leads the line.

North Macedonia XI:Dimitrievski, Musliu, Velkoski, Ristovski, Alioski, Nikolov, Ademi, Spirovski, Bardhi, Pandev, Elmas.

Subs: Bejtulai, Ristevski, Trickovski, Trajkovski, Hasani, Jankov, Kostadinov, Siskovski, Radeski, Avramovski,

Getting in the mood

The fans have been getting in the mood in Bucharest for this game....

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... although the excitement is a bit too much for some...

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Pressure off

North Macedonia gave a spirited display on their major tournament debut against Austria, holding their opponents for a long until they were undone by two late goals as they lost 3-1.

Coach Igor Angelovski is putting no pressure on his players to win today's match.

"It's like a final for both sides but we feel no pressure whatsoever while Ukraine will be extremely disappointed if they fail to reach the knockout stages," Angelovski said.

"They are a top quality side that showed character to score twice after falling 2-0 behind to the Dutch and they have outstanding individuals in the likes of Andriy Yarmolenko, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ruslan Malinovskyi.

"But we too came here hoping to advance to the business end of the competition and we have to stay focused. We're mixing it with Europe's best teams."

'Ukraine have some quality in their side'

Mark Lawrenson

BBC football expert

Ukraine were very unlucky not to get anything out of their game with the Netherlands. I know they've got some quality in their side and they showed it when they fought back from 2-0 down to get themselves level, for a few minutes anyway.

North Macedonia also gave it a good go in their opener against Austria but I think they might come up a bit short this time too.

Prediction: 2-0

Listen on 5 live

BBC Radio 5 Live

It is an absolutely packed day of sport on BBC Radio 5 live with all things Euros on from now until 22:30 BST. They have commentary of all three games today, too.

Listen on the radio, online and via the BBC Sounds App.

A new one

Not quite sure what this training drill is all about.

Does Tony Adams take North Macedonia's training sessions?