Ukraine change mood
Armenia............0 Ukraine...............5
Ukraine boss Oleksandr Petrakov made 11 changes for the trip to Armenia and the gamble paid off as his side routed Armenia to set up a Group B1 decider with Scotland.
After watching his team turn in a terrible display at Hampden in the 3 - 0 midweek loss, Petrakov responded by leav ing everyone out.
That could easily have backfired in Yerevan and it looked like Armenia might spring a shock as they were well on top early on.
But Ukraine weathered the storm and took the lead when Oleksandr Tymchyk netted after 22 minutes.
That settled the nerves and it was effectively game over early in the second half when Oleksandr Zubkov smashed home the second.
Armenian heads dropped after t ha t a nd sub Artem Dovbyk netted either side of Danylo Ihnatenko’s screamer to complete the rout.
Although angry with his
team’s performance at Hampden, Pet rakov’s ringing changes were also about keeping his stars fresh for the deciding game with Scots on Tuesday in Krakow.
Ukraine were ragged early on as a result but Armenia lacked the f irepower to make them pay.
And it was Petrakov’s men who netted first when some slick play down the left f inished with Zubkov crossing for Tymchyk to tap into an empty net.
The roles were reversed for the killer second, with Tymchyk breaking down the right and firing across the box for Zubkov to f lash a high finish into the net.
Armenia were reeling and Ukraine floored them with a slick third.
More good combination broke the offside trap and Zubkov floated the ball over the keeper for Dovbyk to nod home on the line.
With the job now done, Petrakov made a series of subs but Ukraine continued to attack and Ihnatenko’s 20-yarder made it 4- 0.
A brilliant solo goal from Dovbyk then finished it off.