Euro 2016: Germany ease to win 2-0 over Ukraine

World Cup winners Germany opened up their Euro 2016 campaign with a solid 2-0 win over Ukraine. Let’s recap all of Sunday’s action.

Despite the violence amongst fans grabbing the headlines in France, it was a relief to get back to the soccer on Sunday with three interesting games.

Northern Ireland are one of the major underdogs in this tournament, and they landed a tough task against Poland right out of the gates. 

Poland 1-0 Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland hung in there for as long as they could, but in the end it was a Arkadiusz Milik goal in the 51st minute that ended their hopes of making a great start. Although it’s only one game in, Northern Ireland will likely need to beat Ukraine next, because Germany await in their final game.

Germany 2-0 Ukraine

It was a solid if not remarkable performance for Germany. They flashed their impressive teamwork and slick passing in the first half, but had to weather the storm in the second half as Ukraine created opportunities. The Germans often start slowly in major tournaments, but they came away with a good win here. With Poland and Northern Ireland to come, they could clean the table and take a maximum nine points.

Let’s take a look at the standings of Groups A-D after Sunday’s action.

Group A

1. France (3 points)
2. Switzerland (3 points)
3. Albania (0 points)
4. Romania (0 points)

Group B

1. Wales (3 points)
2. England (1 point)
3. Russia (1 point)
4. Slovakia (0 points)

Group C

1. Germany (3 points)
2. Poland (3 points)
3. Northern Ireland (0 points)
4. Ukraine (0 points)

Group D

1. Croatia (3 points)
2. Czech Republic (0 points, yet to play)
3. Spain (0 points, yet to play)
4. Turkey (0 points)

5:32 PM