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Garmash propels Ukraine to glory

Serbia 1-3 Ukraine
Denys Garmash brought the crowd to their feet in Mariupol, scoring twice to end the hopes of Serbia as the hosts swept into the final.

Denys Garmash celebrates scoring Ukraine's clinching third goal
Denys Garmash celebrates scoring Ukraine's clinching third goal ©Sportsfile

Ukraine set up a UEFA European Under-19 Championship final meeting with their former Group A rivals England after the hosts put in a disciplined display to see off Serbia.

Home delight
Yevgeniy Shakhov gave his side the perfect start when he opened the scoring in the opening minute, but Serbia pulled level midway through the half with Danijel Aleksić tapping into the net. Urged on by a full house in Mariupol, Ukraine regained the lead in the 38th minute when Denys Garmash blasted into the top corner and the same player assured his team of victory shortly before the end.

Bright opening
The hosts were a goal up within a minute. Sergii Shevchuk won a free kick outside the Serbia box, with Dmytro Korkishko's shot forcing goalkeeper Aleksandar Kirovski to palm the ball back into the danger zone where Shakhov was on hand to fire the loose ball into the corner of the net. Yuriy Kalitvintsev's charges continued to pour forward with Dmytro Yeremenko bringing Kirovski into action before sending a shot over the bar when well placed.

Serbia equaliser
Serbia had come back from one goal down against France and Spain in the group stage of the tournament and did so again here in the 22nd minute. Dejan Blagojević found space on the left before firing the ball into the centre and when goalkeeper Igor Levchenko failed to deal with the cross Aleksić had the simplest of tasks to knock the ball over the line for his third goal of the tournament. The Group B winners were gaining in confidence and almost took the lead when Slobodan Medojević deflected Adem Ljajić's free kick just wide.

Victory secured
The majority of the 12,600 supporters were becoming apprehensive but were back on their feet six minutes before the break when Garmash collected a pass from Korkishko, edging forward and unleashing a blistering shot from distance that Kirovski could only help on its way into the top corner. Aleksandar Stanojević's side were struggling to find the attacking flow that had helped them to reach the semi-finals but were afforded a couple of chances in the second half thanks to errors by Ukraine defender Serhiy Kryvtsov. Nemanja Milić first saw a shot well held by Levchenko before Aleksandar Miljković blasted over.

Final blow
However, with Serbia committing more men into attack, Ukraine found more space in which to work and they wrapped up the victory in the 86th minute when Garmash dived to meet Yeremenko's delivery from the right.