Radeski leads Macedonia U21 to dramatic win

The starters for Macedonia U21Marjan Radeski was the hero for Macedonia U21 as the youth national team celebrated a 1:0 victory over Ukraine U21.

Dramatic ending in the U21 qualifier between Macedonia and Ukraine. The match, which was played at the recently renovated “Petar Miloshevski” training center, saw Macedonia U21 celebrate a late win thanks to Marjan Radeski. He controlled the ball following a cross from the left hand side, and fired a close range shot to the back of the net.

Radeski, his teammates and the crowd went into ecstasy as Macedonia U21 followed up their 3:0 loss to Iceland with a 1:0 win against Ukraine. They took care of home field advantage, something that is very important if they want to quality out of this group.

The 1st half started pretty slow as there were few quality chances. Ukraine attempted two shots in the opening 12 minutes, but both of them ended up over the goal. Macedonia U21 was even shown three yellow cards by the middle of the half, but it was Ukraine who first went down to 10 men in the 65th minute. Near the end of the game, Darko Velkovski would also be given his marching orders for a second bookable offense.

Macedonia U21 was missing the injured Dejan Iliev and Valmir Nafiu, so Igor Aleksovski started in goal while Marjan Radeski opened at CF. It was Radeski who had the first opportunity for Macedonia in the 27th minute, but his effort was saved. The hosts improved as the 1st half went by, but it would remain scoreless at the half.

For much of the 2nd half, the game seemed headed for a goalless draw since Ukraine dropped back following their red card. Macedonia controlled possession, but they had a difficult time breaking down the opponent. The wingers were not very effective and Radeski was not afforded much service up front.

Video of the goal:

That all changed in the third minute of stoppage time following a cross from the left hand side. Radeski controlled it, slowed it down and fired a close range shot to the back of the net.

Macedonia U21: Aleksovski, Murati, Zajkov, Velkovski, Demiri, Nikolov (C), Bardhi (90′ Musliu), Markoski, Avramovski (67′ Petkovski), Denkovski (75′ Mustafov), Radeski.

To view the complete match report, click here.

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