Ukraine succumb to Austria in Innsbruck

Dhaka: The SV Werder Bremen striker`s second, a minute from time, came after Oleh Gusev had twice drawn Oleh Blokhin`s team level, his first cancelling out Zlatko Junuzović`s early opener. Ukraine play Turkey on Tuesday, their final warm-up match before facing Sweden in their opening game of the finals on 11 June.

Austria took the initiative from the start and went ahead inside three minutes when Junuzović curled a sublime free-kick beyond Oleksandr Goryainov. Ukraine responded in positive fashion, but for all their possession they failed to make any telling inroads.

Andriy Yarmolenko forced the clearest opening, clipping the ball into the path of Yevhen Konoplyanka, but the FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk forward decided to pass when shooting seemed the obvious option.

The pattern of the match seldom changed after the break, although the hosts almost doubled their advantage when György Garics fired wide. Ukraine soon made their territorial supremacy count, however, courtesy of Gusev. Yarmolenko picked up the ball in space and while his fierce effort was repelled, Gusev showed his predatory instincts to tap in the rebound.

Austria regained the lead six minutes later. As chaos ensued in the Ukraine back line, Arnautović pounced with a cool finish. The hosts were pegged back once more, though, soon after. Again Gusev was the scorer, surging forward from his right-back position and powering an unstoppable effort past Heinz Lindner.

With both teams vying for a winner, luck conspired to thwart Ukraine as Artem Milevskiy`s header was superbly blocked on the goal line by Markus Suttner. Arnautović subsequently seized the moment, embarking on a mazy run before unleashing an emphatic shot to secure victory.

BDST: 1305HRS, June 2, 2012
SA