Group C, Olympique Lyonnais, Lyon
Ukraine v Northern Ireland
Both teams had a losing start to the 2016 European Championship, so the hunt for the first point and win was still on for the two.
Ukraine was impressive against the World Champions, Germany. Despite losing, they created threatening goal scoring opportunities.
Northern Ireland is yet to grow in the competition. They sat back and tried to play for a draw in their first match against Poland. Being that it was their first match in European Championship history, that can be forgiven. This was the match for Northern Ireland to get more comfortable.
Goalless first half with not too much to discuss, the second half was opened up by a Northern Ireland goal in the 4 minutes after the restart. Gareth McAuley broke away from the Ukrainian defensive line and headed in Oliver Norwood’s free-kick.
Northern Ireland tactically sound and the safe hands of the Michael McGovern, and the few opportunities Ukraine was able to create were wasted with their attempts to shoot.
Two major interruptions occurred to give 6 minutes additional time to the match. Hail storm forced the players off the pitch for a brief moment, and Northern Ireland spent a few minutes trying to figure out their last substitution.
96 minutes into the match. McGinn doubled the lead for Northern Ireland.
The high pressing system had tired out Ukrainian defensive line. A well composed Northern Ireland late attacking attempt doubled their lead in the final seconds of the match.
A great move on the flank by McGuinness made the final goal possible by creating an opening on the flanks and sending a low cross into Ukrainian penalty box. Dallas attempted a strike at was pushed back into play by Ukrainian goalkeeper Pyatov. McGuinn was there to pounce on the rebound to double the lead for Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland goes on to face Germany. Ukraine goes on to face Poland.
| Group C | |||||||
| Team | Played | Win | Loss | Draw | GF | GA | Points |
| Germany | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Poland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Northern Ireland | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Ukraine | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
