Romania advance despite defeat by Ukraine

Ukraine are well-placed to qualify for the UEFA Futsal EURO 2014 quarter-finals after a narrow victory against Romania, who are the first team through to the last eight despite defeat in Antwerp.

Having sat out the opening matchday in Group A, when Romania overwhelmed Belgium 6-1, the two-time runners-up claimed the points courtesy of Dmytro Sorokin's 18th-minute finish. While Romania can look forward to a Monday tie at the Sportpaleis, Ukraine will join them in the knockout stage if they avoid a three-goal loss to the hosts here on Saturday.

So organised defensively against Belgium, Romania were fortunate to escape an early lapse, Dmytro Bondar being denied by Vlad Iancu after intercepting Dumitru Stoica's square pass. Iancu came to the Tricolorii's aid again when he narrowed the angle to thwart Dmytro Sorokin, who had stolen possession and raced from inside his half. The Romania No1 then made it a hat-trick of first-half interventions as he beat out a strike from the same player, Vitaliy Kiselyov having dissected the defence with a diagonal pass.

A goal had been coming and when Ukraine did take the lead Iancu was powerless. Oleksandr Sorokin retrieved possession on the touchline and, looking up, laid the ball on a plate for his brother and Lokomotiv Kharkiv club-mate, Dmytro. If that briefly silenced the colourful cohort of Romania supporters in one corner of the Lotto Arena, they were back in fine voice at the start of the second period as the pace markedly increased.

After Stoica had fired over following a give-and-go with Marius Matei, Iancu made a double save, extending a leg to stop Denys Ovsyannikov and, on the rebound, the sliding Yevgen Rogachov. Having survived that scare, Nelu Stancea's men were forbidden an equaliser by the upright, Cosmin Gherman rattling the post. They were frustated by the woodwork once more late on, Robert Lupu the unfortunate individual this time, but it mattered not in the end.