Euro 2012: Ukraine 0–2 France: Yohan Cabaye Strikes

France strolled to a 2-0 win over Ukraine in the Donbass Arena. Goals from Jeremy Menez and Yohan Cabaye secured the three points and put France in a great position to qualify for the quarter finals. Menez was preferred to Chelsea€™s Florent Malouda and fully justified his manager€™s faith, opening the scoring in the second half when he cut inside onto his left foot after a France break. Menez had missed several good chance sin the first half, and was arguably lucky to remain on the pitch after a nasty foul, having been booked earlier in the first half. Good play by Karim Benzema set up Cabaye for the second goal, and the Newcastle midfielder hit the post with another effort. In the end it was a very comfortable victory for Laurent Blanc€™s men as Ukraine failed to get the ball off the French. The second round of Group D matches kicked off with Ukraine topping the group, thanks to their 2-1 win over Sweden. France were joint second, two points behind due to the draw with England. France made two changes, PSG€™s Menez for the ineffectual Malouda, and Gael Clichy came in for Patrice Evra. Ukraine went with the same starting eleven that beat the Swedes. The game kicked off in the middle of a thunder storm and while the rain was torrential, it was the lightning strikes that caused the Dutch ref, Bjorn Kuipers, to temporarily suspend the match after five minutes. Nearly an hour later the teams re-emerged and the game resumed. Despite the rain, the pitch had drained superbly and if anything playing conditions were markedly improved. France restarted the better, and as their attacking game came together they found gaps in the Ukrainian midfield. An offside flag rightly denied Menez from opening the scoring but despite having the lion€™s share of possession Blanc€™s team could not find the final pass. Both sides were guilty of getting caught on the ball. Ukraine€™s first shot did not come until the 25th minute, Yarmolenko dragging a shot wide of Lloris€™ near post. An error from Nazarenko allowed Ribery to nip in but when the ball fell to Menez he shot over. Indeed, as the clocked towards the half hour mark and a Mexican wave circled the stands it seemed only a defensive error would break the deadlock, and a poor back pass from Tymoschuk let in Ribery again. His cross was met by Menez who this time hit the target but was thwarted by Pyatov in the Ukraine goal. Ukraine€™s best chance fell to Shevchenko as he latched on to a long through ball over the static French defence, but Lloris saved from the former AC Milan and Chelsea striker. Mexes forced a good save from Pyatov as he rose highest to head Samir Nasri€™s free kick. Menez then picked up the game€™s first yellow card as Ukraine€™s break from the subsequent corner was halted. The match was lacking the sparks that had lightened up the sky earlier in the evening, and perhaps the interruption had affected both sets of players. France again started better after the rbeak, with Menez again testing Pyatov, but Shevchenko showed an increased threat on the break and whistled an effort just over. Tymoschuk then shot over after another counter attack. However, it was a French counter attack then created the first goal. Menez, justifying his inclusion, cut inside and drove in at the near post after good work from Ribery and Benzema. Ironically the goal happened during Ukraine€™s best spell. France doubled their lead three minutes later when Benzema turned Khacheridi and played a great through ball for Yohan Cabaye. The Newcastle man made no mistake with a clinical left foot finish. Ukraine made a change, Milevsky coming on for Nazarenko as they searched for a route back into the game. After a magnificent spell of possession Cabaye thumped the post. That was to be his last involvement as he was subbed for Yann M€™vila. France continued to dominate and Ukraine could not get enough of the ball. Whenever they did have the ball they could not create a single clear cut opening. As the clock ticked into the late eighties it was France who continued to have the shots at goal, Nasri keeping Pyatov on his toes when he shot from a free kick on the corner of the penalty box. The Ukrainian fans had long given up hope of their team getting back into the game and France strolled through the latter stages of the game, fully deserving their 2-0 victory.