Germany dismiss Ukraine to go clear

Victory was rarely in doubt for UEFA European Under-17 Championship elite round Group 4 hosts Germany as they eliminated Ukraine in Dusseldorf thanks to two first-half goals.

Levent Aycicek was a threat from the start and when his free-kick was diverted towards goal by Ihor Duts, Nico Perrey was on hand to poke the ball past Bogdan Sarnavskiy and give Germany a tenth-minute lead. Steffen Freund's side then grabbed their second nine minutes before the half-time when Nils Quaschner broke down the right and picked out Samed Yesil, who scored at the second time of asking after his initial effort had been saved.

Ukraine's only effort of note came from Valeriy Gryshyn's 71st-minute free-kick, which was kept out well by Odisseas Vlachodimos. By that point, however, the damage had already been done, with Germany now three points clear at the top of the section and needing just a draw against Switzerland on Tuesday to reach the finals in Serbia. Ukraine will face Turkey looking to claim their first points.

"I think it was top quality from my team," said Freund afterwards. "We got in around the back, created chances and looked really good. We deserved to win the game." Ukraine coach Yurii Moroz echoed that analysis. "It's a shame we lost, but we couldn't find any weaknesses in their game," he told UEFA.com. "Germany are strong opponents and we're pleased we played well against them."