 Vineet Ramakrishnan/Zeenews Sports Bureau
Here are the highlights from the Day 4 fixtures of the Euro 2012.
England took on France first up at Donetsk and the co-hosts Ukraine locked horn with Sweden in the Group D fixtures.
Lescott’s first and Nasri’s class: A pulsating 1-1 draw between France and England kicked off the Group D proceedings at Donetsk with France looking more aggressive. But Roy Hodgson’s defensive line impressed throughout the match sniffing out the French attack for most part of the game.
Joleon Lescott headed an inch perfect free kick from Gerrard into the goal to give England the lead in the 30th minute, but the constant bombardment of attacking play by Nasri, Benzema and Ribery yielded an equalizer for Les Bleus as Nasri drove one past Hart with a low shot into the bottom left corner from just outside the area in the 39th minute. An evenly contested match which made the second Group D fixture even more interesting.
A Legend on the prowl: Andriy Shevchenko scored two goals in a span of six minutes to help Ukraine, the co-hosts,-to register a 2-1 win from being a goal down against the unpredictable Sweden side. Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave Sweden the lead shortly after the break, scoring from close range while Ukraine had a player down injured in the 52nd minute.
Ukraine retaliated through Shevchenko. Yarmolenko played in a superb cross from the right, and Shevchenko rose in front of the defender to power a header inside Isaksson’s near post in the 55th minute. Six minutes later, Shevchenko sent the fans into raptures with another header as he raced to the near post to meet Konoplankya’s corner and headed low into the net for the lead.
First Published: Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 12:23
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