National team have been training at the Robert Rowan Performance Centre
Brentford's youngsters gave good account of themselves against seasoned international footballers. Picture: Brentford FC
March 24, 2023
Ahead of its European Championship Qualifier against England at Wembley this Sunday (26 March), the Ukrainian national football team have been hosted by Brentford FC.
They have been preparing for the match at the Robert Rowan Performance Centre this week As part of their preparations, the squad containing some world-class footballers faced Neil MacFarlane’s B team with some first team players such as Pontus Jansson and Josh Dasilva. There were also returns for Alex Gilbert and Ryan Trevitt as the side had a fantastic opportunity to test themselves against high calibre opposition. Romeo Beckham was an unused substitute.
For Ruslan Rotan, the Ukrainian coach, the match was a chance for his squad to get game time in conditions expected to be similar to the match at Wembley. Former West Ham forward Yarmolenko was recovering from an injury and Arsenal’s Zinchenko was rested due to the number of games he had player recently.
The match was played at the Cherry Red Records Stadium on Plough Lane, the home of Wimbledon FC, with family only admitted. The Ukrainians ran out 2-0 winners with goals from Oleksandr Svatok and Heorhii Sudakov against a young Bees team.
The match started with Ukraine seeing a lot of the ball in the early stages with the Brentford press proving quite effective with the energy of the likes of Gilbert, Michael Olakigbe and Kyreece Lisbie putting the opponents under pressure as they made it hard for Ukraine to play through them.
There was an early opportunity for Mykhailo Mudryk, Chelsea’s £70 million player, on 16 minutes as he used his pace to dart behind the Brentford back line. After being forced wide he was unable to find the head of Roman Yaremchuk as his cross was overhit.
On 20 minutes the Bees had a chance of their own to get the ball into the box as Gilbert’s effort was cleared away before the resulting corner from the Brentford man almost found the head of Jansson but for Andrii Lunin who punched clear.
Three minutes later the game had its first goal and it came in disappointing circumstances for the Bees as Ruslan Malinovskyi’s whipped in corner found Svatok who headed home with precision past Ben Winterbottom.
The two teams line up together ahead of the game. Picture: Brentford FC
Brentford’s best chance so far in the half then came five minutes after going behind and it came through excellent play out on the left from Olakigbe. The 18-year-old used his speed to beat his man out wide before he crossed with his left foot into the path of Gilbert. The forward controlled with his knee before getting his shot away but it bounced up kindly for the keeper to claim.
A Yaremchuk effort then followed shortly after as he managed to beat the offside trap before attempting to lob Winterbottom but his effort ended up on top of the Brentford net and that preceded another set piece attempt for the Bees on the half hour mark. Gilbert’s low free-kick found Trevitt who controlled into the path of Jansson, whose improvised flick with his right heel almost found the onrushing Brentford attack but for another clearance.
It almost became 2-0 to Ukraine on 36 minutes when Mudryk delivered a dangerous ball into the box from a central free-kick. The effort found the head of Tristan Crama who looked to clear and, thankfully for the Bees, his effort came back off of the Brentford post as the sides went in at the break with Ukraine a goal to the good.
Ukraine made 10 changes at the break as they were able to give their players minutes ahead of Sunday’s international fixture. Chances fell 10 minutes after the restart with Vitalii Buialskyi forcing Crama into a smart block before Artem Dovbik saw his low effort go just wide of the post. On 65 minutes they were able to double their lead when Sudakov picked up a loose ball in the middle before he drove forwards and unleashed an unstoppable shot into the bottom left-hand corner.
Winterbottom then had to be at his best on 69 minutes as he blocked a powerful drive from close range following a Ukraine set piece before he turned a Viktor Tsyganov effort round the post as the match finished 2-0 to Ukraine in what was a brilliant learning experience for the B team.
Brentford B: Winterbottom, Wilson, Adedokun, Crama, Olakigbe (Yogane, 79) Trevitt, Gilbert, Dasilva, Lisbie (Holland, 51), Jansson, Syla (Young-Coombes, 67)
Subs: Rose, Wilcox, Dickov, Beckham, Bennett, Waruih, McManus,
Ukraine first half: Lunin, Svatok, Stepanenko, Mudryk, Malinovskyi, Yaremchuk, Buialskyi, Mykolenko, Bondarenko, Karavaiev, Matvienko
Ukraine second half: Shevchenko, Sobol, Popov, Konoplianka, Dovbik, Miroshnichenko, Buialskyi, Tsygankov, Pikhalyonok, Sarapii, Sudakov
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