Goals at the beginning of each half helped secure Ukraine a 3-0 win against Kazakhstan in UEFA European Under-21 Futsal Tournament Group B, earning them and Spain places in Friday's semi-finals with a game to spare.

Group decider
An angled finish by Vitaliy Gavrylenko on three minutes and a strike 37 seconds into the second half from Dmytro Sorokin, plus a late Dmitriy Klochko strike from long range, earned Ukraine their second win of the finals and lifted Gennadiy Lysenchuk's team on to six points along with Spain. Those two teams face each other in the final match of the section on Thursday to decide who will win the group, with Spain ahead on goal difference, while eliminated Kazakhstan and the Netherlands will play for pride.

Early goal
Kazakhstan lost 4-0 to Spain in Monday's opener and they were soon a goal down today when Gavrylenko evaded the challenge of goalkeeper Galimzhan Kosmukhambetov and found the net from an acute angle. Unperturbed, Amirzhan Mukhanov's players settled and only a smothering save by Dmytro Lytvynenko prevented Kazakhstan from equalising. In a sweeping Ukraine move, Oleksandr Sorokin then combined with Klochko to test Kosmukhambetov yet Kazakhstan were always a threat as Dauren Nurgozhin and Aleksandr Dovgan showed within seconds of each other.

Victory sealed
However, just 37 seconds after the restart Ukraine doubled their advantage when Klochko controlled a long ball from the back and squared to Dmytro Sorokin to roll the ball into an unguarded net. Despite the setback, Kazakhstan − cheered on by a small but vocal band of flag-waving supporters − never let their heads drop and Pavel Shakirov had powerful volley beaten out by Lytvynenko. Chingiz Yesenamanov was deployed as a flying goalkeeper but with the Kazakhstan goal unguarded Klochko fired in from inside his own half 32 seconds from time.

Gennadiy Lysenchuk, Ukraine coach
«We are really happy, as we have reached our minimum goal in two days, making it through to the semi-finals. We won with a good score against a decent team. They have a big future, most of their players are much younger than 21, so they can play the same team in the next tournament. We studied them before the tournament and saw their game yesterday, so we knew Kazakhstan. We made our tactical plan and won, even so we didn't play that well today.»

Amirzhan Mukhanov, Kazakhstan
«I have to congratulate Ukraine on their deserved victory and a place in the semi-finals. We played two totally different matches. I don't want to offend Ukraine, but Spain are at another level. It was quite an equal game today, yet we let in a goal in the beginning of each half. After the break we had to play more openly, and we paid for that. Ukraine are stronger than us physically. I have to say, that I really liked the first half.»