Arsenal midfielder Oleksandr Zinchenko was among the Premier League players in action for their country last night.
The English game is awash with stars representing their countries at the highest level and Zinchenko was in action against Bosnia for the Ukraine.
Unlike some of his Arsenal teammates, Zinchenko’s international break means something. Ukraine were bidding to reach the play-off final for a shot at getting into the Euros. And in the end, they duly obliged as they scored twice late in the game to complete a comeback and seal a shootout with Iceland next week to determine who will be in Germany.
However, it looks like Ukraine will need more from Arsenal star Zinchenko.
Ukraine’s media unimpressed with Oleksandr Zinchenko against Bosnia
Of course, Zinchenko is one of Ukraine’s most important players. But last night, it looks like he didn’t have his best game.
A number of Ukrainian reports cited Sofascore in giving Zinchenko the lowest rating from all the midfielders involved.
And FootballUA wrote further on the £32m Arsenal man, suggesting he was just not up to standard last night.
“The captain in the role of one of the pair of defensive midfielders did not impress with his performance this time. Not a single duel won and a few passing errors during the transitions between attack phases. In the end, this may be a banal consequence of a previous injury, which the coaching staff also understood when deciding on the expediency of a replacement,” Football.UA wrote.
Zinchenko, then, will be hoping for a much improved performance against Iceland it seems.
Zinchenko still has it in him to help Ukraine
On paper, it looks like Ukraine have the better side than Iceland anyway. They have a number of players in the ranks with quality and experience like Vitaly Mykolenko and Heorhiy Sudakov, as well as Mykhailo Mudryk of Chelsea fame.
But, those players must turn up if they are to get through.
Arsenal fans will be keen onlookers in seeing how Zinchenko does. The former Man City man has dipped away a bit in recent months but remains a key squad member for Mikel Arteta.
Maintaining good form, then, is key as Arsenal enter the biggest few months of a season for years.
The post 'Not a single duel won': Nation's media seriously unimpressed with £32m Arsenal player's performance last night appeared first on TBR Football.