Ukraine rout lifts spirits in Kiev

A three-goal burst in five minutes at the end of the first half fired Ukraine to a comprehensive victory over the Faroe Islands in this UEFA EURO 2008™ Group B qualifier in Kiev.

Sharp-shooters
Maxym Kalynychenko's fine individual effort put the hosts ahead on 40 minutes and Oleh Gusev capitalised on two mistakes to score twice more before half-time. Kalynychenko claimed his second with a header four minutes into the second half before Andriy Vorobey added the fifth on 64 minutes.

Elimination
Home coach Oleh Blokhin had made five changes to the side that lost 3-1 in Scotland on Saturday, with Andriy Shevchenko left out of the squad despite having registered his fourth goal from six qualifiers in Glasgow. Ukraine were eliminated after that match, and they looked to put that disappointment behind them with a bright start here.

Floodgates open
Serhiy Nazarenko was twice denied by Faroe Islands goalkeeper Jákup Mikkelsen, and Andriy Voronin and Anatoliy Tymoschuk also tried their luck from the edge of the area before Kalynychenko finally struck the opener. The FC Spartak Moskva midfielder cut in from the left, past two defenders, then shot beyond Mikkelsen. There was no way back for the visitors and Gusev made it 3-0 before half-time. First he pounced on defender Einar Hansen's weak back-header to fire past the stranded Faroese goalkeeper, then he tapped in after Mikkelsen had spilled Tymoschuk's long-range drive.

Finishing off
Ukraine picked up from where they had left off after the restart. Just four minutes after the resumption, Olexiy Gai crossed for Kalynychenko to nod in his second goal of the game. Next, substitute Vorobey applied the finishing touch to Andriy Nesmachniy's centre to complete the rout at the NSC Olympiyskiy Stadium.