Ukraine Defeats Georgia 1-0 to Secure First Victory in UEFA Nations League
In Poznan, Poland, Ukraine claimed its first UEFA Nations League victory, picking up its first points and ending Georgia's perfect start in Group B1 with a 1-0 win.
Chelsea striker Mikhail Mudryk's goal against Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili marked Georgia's first defeat in the Nations League. In the 35th minute, Mykhailo Mudryk opened the scoring: he moved from the left flank, beat three Georgian defenders and hit a low shot into the bottom left corner of the goal from outside the penalty area.
This victory was only the second for the Ukrainian team in official matches in 2024. Prior to that, Ukraine beat Slovakia in the second round (2-1), while losing three of the six games.
Despite the fact that Ukraine's national team came out for the match against Georgia with an experimental line-up that included three new players at once - Maksym Taloverov, Ivan Kalyuzhny and Oleksiy Hutsulyak made their first official appearances - the team managed to win, which was only the third ‘dry’ under Serhiy Rebrov.
One of the main reasons for this result was the ‘desire’ of the players, which he saw on the field. This was reflected in the number of fights won, in which the Blue and Yellows defeated their opponent.
During the entire match against Georgia, the Ukrainian national team, according to WhoScored, won 45 ball battles against the opponent. This is almost as many as in the two previous matches against the Czech Republic and Albania (23 each).
Ukraine will play its next match against the Czech Republic on Monday, 14 October, starting at 21:45 Kyiv time. The game will be a nominal home game for Ukraine and will take place in Wroclaw, Poland.
Statistics of the national team of Ukraine in the matches of the League of Nations 2024/25
Ukraine vs Albania: 23-20
Czech Republic - Ukraine: 26-23
Ukraine - Georgia: 45-17
Tournament table. Group B1
Georgia - 6 points (3 matches), 5:2 (goal difference)
Czech Republic - 6 (3), 6:6
Albania - 3 (3), 2:4
Ukraine - 3 (3), 4:5