After gaining a victory over Belarus in FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 6 opener, the Ukrainian national team continued their bright start with a 3-1 away win over Kazakhstan. Thus, Oleksiy Mykhailychenko's men now share first place on points with England who travelled to Croatia on Wednesday.
The host side proved to be tough opponents for Ukraine. FC Alma-Ata striker Sergey Ostapenko could have scored twice in the opening half-hour, first with a header from a Ruslan Baltiev cross and then a shot saved by Ukraine goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov. Nevertheless, Ukraine managed to take a 0-1 lead before the interval when Nazarenko headed in the rebound after Seleznyov had hit the crossbar.
The second goal came in the 53rd minute when Andriy Shevchenko netted the ball from the edge of the box. Arno Pijpers' team continued to press and reduced the deficit in the 67th minute thanks to Ostapenko who kicked into the far corner. However, Nazarenko made sure of the win ten minutes from time when he scored his second goal of the night from 15 metres.
Ukraine's next qualifying match against Croatia will take place in Kharkiv on the 11th of October.
Kazakhstan – Ukraine – 1:3 (0:1)
Kazakhstan: Loria, Azovskiy, Kuchma, Irismetov, Karpovich, Asanbaev (Baizhanov, 72), Smakov, Skorykh, Zhumaskaliyev, Ostapenko, Baltiev (Uzdenov, 88).
Ukraine: Pyatov, Yarmash, Kucher, Mykhalyk, Shevchuk, Tymoschuk, Levchenko, Nazarenko (S. Kravchenko, 81), Aliyev, Shevchenko (Voronin, 89), Seleznyov (Homenyuk, 87).
Goals: Ostapenko (67) – Nazarenko (45, 80), Shevchenko (53).
Booked: Azovskiy (26), Irismetov (62), Kuchma (68) – Yarmash (57).
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