EPL Players at EURO 2024 – Day 13
The group stage concluded last night, with four games in groups E and F. As part of our EPLNews EURO 2024 report, here is how Premier League players performed in these games.
Slovakia 1-1 Romania
The draw between Slovakia and Romania in Frankfurt saw both teams advance to the round of 16, with the Romanians topping the tightest group at the tournament.
Despite both sides knowing a stalemate would be mutually beneficial, they did not hold back, with Slovakia being especially threatening and opening the scoring in the 24th minute through Ondrej Duda.
Romania equalised from a controversial penalty with less than 10 minutes before half time. Răzvan Marin confidently placed the ball in the top corner, setting the final score in the process.
There were only two Premier League players on show, with Martin Dúbravka in goal for Slovakia and Radu Drăgușin at the heart of the Romanian defence. Newcastle’s goalkeeper enjoyed the better performance, keeping his team in the game via his four saves.
Ratings
Slovakia: Martin Dúbravka (Newcastle) – 7.5
Romania: Radu Drăgușin (Tottenham) – 6
You can find highlights and reactions from this game by clicking here.
Ukraine 0-0 Belgium
Belgium and Ukraine met for the first time in Stuttgart and both laboured to a blank draw, ensuring that all four teams in group E finish on four points. Naturally, not everyone can advance in the tournament, and Ukraine’s 0-3 defeat against Romania meant that they finish last and exit the tournament. Meanwhile Belgium advances to the round of 16 from the second position in the group.
Belgium started the game well, with Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku combining for their team’s first chance within 10 minutes. But after the Ukrainians settled into the game, opportunities became rare for the rest of the first half. After the interval both teams had chances to score, but lacked either composure or luck.
Plenty of Premier League players featured in this match and performed well for the most part, especially De Bruyne, who earned the Man of the Match award.
Ratings
Ukraine: Illia Zabarnyi (Bournemouth) – 6.5; Vitali Mykolenko (Everton) – 7; Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal) – 6
Belgium: Wout Faes (Leicester) – 6; Timothy Castagne (Fulham) – 6.5; Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) – 7.5; Amadou Onana (Everton) – 7.5; Youri Tielemans (Aston Villa) – 7; Jeremy Doku (Manchester City) – 7.5; Leandro Trossard (Arsenal) – 6.5
Click here for highlights, reactions and details from this game.
Czechia 1-2 Türkiye
Türkiye advanced to the round of 16 thanks to a late goal sealing a win against a gutsy 10-man Czechia in Hamburg.
The first half saw the Czechs create plenty of chances despite playing with only 10 men after Antonin Barak’s second yellow card in the 20th minute. They knew that only a win would see them through due to developments in the other game. But they conceded a goal shortly after the break from a crisp finish by Hakan Çalhanoğlu.
Tomáš Souček would soon level the scores after a goalkeeping mistake by Mert Günok, but it was injury time heartbreak for the Czechs, who conceded once more to a clinical shot from Cenk Tosun. Their tournament ends here, as they finish the group in fourth place.
In terms of Premier League players, only Souček and his West Ham teammate Vladimir Coufal featured in this game, with both playing the full 90 minutes. Souček was the best Czech player on the field, also scoring his team’s only goal, while Coufal had a middle-of-the-road outing, but posed Türkiye some problems with his long throws.
Ratings
Czechia: Vladimir Coufal (West Ham) – 6.5; Tomáš Souček (West Ham) – 7.5
Türkiye: N/A
You may click here for reactions and highlights from this game.
Georgia 2-0 Portugal
Yesterday’s group F shock result meant that Georgia’s first EURO participation brought about their first taste of knockout football too, as they finished group F in third place with four points.
An superb early goal from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia gave the Caucasus nation hope that they might pull off a miracle in Gelsenkirchen against an already group-topping Portugal. Despite plenty of chances from Cristiano Ronaldo & Co., Georgia held firm and actually struck once more shortly after the break thanks to a well taken penalty from Georges Mikautadze.
While Georgia have no Premier League players in their ranks, a much changed Portugal still featured three players on from the start, while another three came off the bench. João Palhinha had the best performance of the bunch, threatening the Georgian goal in the first half and keeping things ticking over in the middle of the park.
Ratings
Georgia: N/A
Portugal: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United) – 6.5; João Palhinha (Fulham) – 7; Pedro Neto (Wolves) – 6.5; Diogo Jota (Liverpool) – 6; Matheus Nunes (Manchester City) – 5.5; Nelson Semedo (Wolves) – 6
You can find highlights and reactions by clicking here.