Ukraine left-back Vitalii Mykolenko.
Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Everton left-back Vitalii Mykolenko featured for Ukraine last night.
Vitalii Mykolenko played the full 90 minutes for Ukraine in their Nations League clash against Northern Ireland.
Ukraine suffered a 1-0 defeat in Belfast, with Portsmouth’s Terry Devlin netting a second-half winner for the hosts at Windsor Park.
That said, we’ve had a closer look at Mykolenko’s performance to see how the Everton star fared in Northern Ireland’s capital.
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Vitalii Mykolenko incredibly wasteful for Ukraine vs Northern Ireland
Mykolenko was given a 6.2 match rating by Sofascore, and his statistics suggest he was incredibly wasteful in possession last night.
The Everton full-back gave the ball away a quite staggering 26 times, and was totally dominated in his duels as well.
90 minutes
86 touches
26 times possession lost
8 unsuccessful crosses
5 lost ground duels
4 lost aerial duels
3 unsuccessful touches
2 dribbles past
Mykolenko’s deliveries were also statistically poor, as he failed to find his target on eight occasions, only completing one successful cross.
Ukraine return to action on Tuesday evening, as they take on Georgia at the Kosicka Futbalova Arena in Slovakia.
Mykolenko will then return to Merseyside ahead of the Brentford clash on Monday, although David Moyes may have to consider giving him a rest.
The 27-year-old has played a lot of football and travelled non-stop, so he will need his minutes managed carefully, especially considering his previous injury record.
Although Moyes’ options are limited, and Jarrad Branthwaite’s display at left-back earlier this season wasn’t exactly convincing.
James Garner has operated in that role previously, so there’s a fair chance the midfielder is deployed as a left-back against Brentford.
Garner has had a good rest during the international break as he wasn’t called up to Thomas Tuchel’s England squad.
It’ll certainly be an interesting team selection for Moyes with so many of his first-teamers coming back from a congested international fixture list.