West Ham United winger Andriy Yarmolenko was in action for Ukraine on Sunday.
Ukraine were in UEFA Nations League action on Sunday afternoon, and claimed a 1-0 win over Slovakia in a dour encounter in Lviv.
With the first international break of the season upon us, club football has taken a back seat, and the opening games of the UEFA Nations League have taken place.
Ukraine were in action on Sunday, playing against Slovakia in Group 1 of League B, having already picked up a win against the Czech Republic earlier in the week.
In truth, Sunday’s meeting was a dour affair between two teams playing below par, with Ukraine unable to really get creativity out of Yevhen Konoplyanka or Andriy Yarmolenko, whilst Slovakia couldn’t get Marek Hamsik, Stanislav Lobotka or Vladimir Weiss going either.
It looked like the game was destined to end in a 0-0 draw, but Ukraine substitute Viktor Tsyhankov was brought down by Milan Skriniar for a very soft penalty.
West Ham winger Yarmolenko stepped up to take the penalty and just beat Newcastle’s Martin Dubravka to give Ukraine all three points in a poor contest.
Despite finding the net, Yarmolenko – a £17.5million signing for West Ham this summer on a whopping £100,000-a-week (The Times) – struggled throughout, with even his penalty clearly coming from a player devoid of confidence right now.
Yarmolenko has yet to start a Premier League game for West Ham this season and has yet to justify the money paid for him, and fans took to Twitter to criticise his Ukraine performance too.
Some called Yarmolenko ‘horrible’, ‘unfit’ and ‘awful’ in another disappointing display, with some Ukrainians feeling that his club form is now transferring into his national form, whilst others suggested his dribbling was a disaster and he has declined as a player over recent years, though West Ham fans hope that his goal – even if only a penalty – can give him a confidence boost.
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