EPL Players at EURO 2024 – Day 8
Another three games took place yesterday at the EUROs, including the tournament’s first 0-0. As part of our EPLNews EURO 2024 report, here is how Premier League players performed in these games.
Slovakia 1-2 Ukraine
Yesterday’s early game saw Ukraine come from behind to win against Slovakia, complicating this fascinating group E even further.
After Ivan Schranz’s opener in the first half, Ukraine rallied in the second one and scored through Mykola Shaparenko and Roman Yaremchuk to earn their first points at the EUROs.
In terms of EPL players, Slovakia called upon Martin Dúbravka to start in goal, while Ukraine relied on Illia Zabarnyi, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Mykhailo Mudryk, who were all part of the starting XI. The Arsenal left-back also provided an assist for the equalising goal.
Ratings
Slovakia: Martin Dúbravka (Newcastle) – 6
Ukraine: Illia Zabarnyi (Bournemouth) – 7; Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal) – 8; Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea) – 7
Highlights and reactions can be found by clicking here.
Poland 1-3 Austria
Austria dominated Poland in a do-or-die game in group D, and gave themselves a chance to progress with a 3-1 win that featured three Premier League players, all for Poland.
Defenders Jan Bednarek and Jakub Kiwior started the game for the Poles, while Jakub Moder came on as a half-time substitute.
Unfortunately for their team, none of them gave a very good account of themselves, leaving Poland needing a miracle in the last matchday to have a chance at continuing in the tournament.
Ratings
Poland: Jan Bednarek (Southampton) – 6; Jakub Kiwior (Arsenal) – 5.5; Jakub Moder (Brighton) – 6
Austria: N/A
For highlights and reactions, click here.
Netherlands 0-0 France
It was this heavyweights’ battle that brought us the first blank draw at EURO 2024. Despite the scoreline, it was still an eventful contest, mostly dominated by the French team. The biggest talking point of the match was a VAR decision to disallow a Xavi Simons goal in the second half due to Denzel Dumfries being in an offside position and deemed to have interfered with play, despite not blocking French goalkeeper Mike Maignan’s view of the action.
As for Prem players’ involvement, Dutch coach Ronald Koeman used Bart Verbruggen, captain Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Ake, and Cody Gakpo in the starting XI. France’s only EPL player was William Saliba, on from the start. All five played the full 90 minutes of this match.
Their performances were good for the most part, but not spectacular, with only Ake playing at a slightly lower standard than the rest of the Premier League contingent.
Ratings
Netherlands: Bart Verbruggen (Brighton) – 7.5; Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) – 7.5; Nathan Ake (Manchester City) – 6.5; Cody Gakpo (Liverpool) – 7
France: William Saliba (Arsenal) – 7.5
Click here for reactions and highlights from this game.