Batagov opened and closed the scoring, and scored an own goal before the break
Ukraine youth team (U-21) made a spectacular comeback against Portugal in an away friendly match – 3:3.
Unai Melgosa’s team, which played in an experimental lineup, quickly opened the scoring: one of today’s five debutants, Anton Tsarenko, earned a penalty, and the experienced Arseniy Batagov converted it.
The Portuguese equalized quite quickly – after an attack from the right flank and a successful rebound, Rafael Rodrigues, the left back, scored. The game continued on a collision course, the hosts had the advantage, the guests sharply counterattacked – thus, Tsarenko missed an excellent opportunity to take the team ahead.
As a result, the Pyrenean team scored twice before the break. First, Matets Fernandes, having taken possession of the ball in the center, surprisingly easily removed Eduard Kozik and shot past Georgiy Ermakov. And soon Batagov cut off Giovani Kenda’s cross into his own goal.
During the break, Melgosa made many changes, and one of them quickly bore fruit. Active Maxim Khlan earned the second penalty for his team and himself accurately shot from 11 meters.
The double-edged game continued, and the initiative was already on the side of the guests. At the same time, Portugal missed a couple of chances in quick attacks, and Hlan could have scored again in response. In the end, the score was evened out: the third goal of the evening (and the second against someone else’s goal) was scored by Batagov – with his header after a cross from the corner of the field. In the last seconds, Bogdan Vyunnik could have snatched the victory, but the striker, who ran away from almost everyone, did not have enough strength to strike.
Four days later, on November 19, Melgosa’s team will play another away match – with Italy in La Spezia. Starts at 19:15 Kyiv time.
- Friendly match
Portugal U-21 – Ukraine U-21 – 3:3 (3:1)
Goals: Rodrigues, 17, Fernandes, 39, Batagov, 45, own goal – Batagov, 4, penal, 86, Khlan, 56, penal.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
