Romania 3-0 Ukraine: Nicolae Stanciu scores early contender for goal of the tournament, before second-half strikes from Razvan Marin and Denis Dragus seal dominant opening game win for Edward Iordanescu's men

Nicolae Stanciu scored a goal of the tournament contender with a venomous strike from distance as Romania recorded their biggest-ever major tournament win to topple Ukraine in the biggest shock of the European Championship so far.

Ukraine had been backed by many as the ‘dark horses’ of the competition and there were several war-related heartwarming scenes before the match in Munich, but they were played off the park and confidently dispatched by a well-drilled Romania team.

Captain Stanciu hit a rasping piledriver in the first half to capitalise on a mistake from Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin, who was again at fault as Razvan Marin added a second in the first of two goals in four minutes after the break. Denis Dragus got the decisive third.

This was a game with a lot of sporting jeopardy riding on it – a win for either team would be huge in their cause to qualify from a group with a realistic path to success for a lesser-fancied nation. At least one of this pair or Slovakia will advance, with Belgium also in Group E.

If we are keen to anoint a ‘group of death’ at every tournament, this wide-open quartet can probably be dubbed a ‘group of life’.

But though it felt like a six-pointer on the pitch, this felt like much more than a football match. Earlier in the day, a stand from Euro 2012 – joint-hosted by Ukraine – was unfurled in Munich city centre.

‘A Kharkiv stadium, built for Euro 2012, destroyed by Russian shells in 2022,’ read the message on the artefact, above a bunch of broken blue and yellow seats. Ukrainian FA president and former Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko struck a sombre pose at its unveiling.

Earlier in the day, the Ukraine football federation had posted a harrowing but inspiring video of encouragement, depicting how many of the one million soldiers fighting on the front line would be watching the game in bunkers, army bases and beyond.

The soundtrack was a mix of soldiers cheering Ukraine goals against a backdrop of fighter jets flying overhead and explosions going off. The Allianz Arena was a sea of yellow and blue as Ukraine players draped themselves in their country’s flag before the match.

But unfortunately, yellow and blue are also the primary colours of Romania – just look at the barnet of defender Andrei Ratiu, who dyed his hair blue to go with their yellow shirt. In an aesthetically-pleasing stadium, it was the Romanians who shone with technicolour.

They are the fifth-worst team at the European Championship according to the world rankings but were rarely mentioned when punters were offering pre-tournament picks for the ‘dark horse’. Indeed, it was Ukraine who were fancied by many as an outsider to go far.

But Romania cared little about that or their reputation. They were excellent, with the first two goals both hit with venom from distance. They defended with steely determination and took their chances when they came.

There was a lot to admire about Ukraine’s play early in the game, with Serhii Rebrov’s team breaking lines with incisive passes and looking threatening albeit not overly threatening the Romanian goal.

But any Ukraine danger ended there. As soon as Romania took the lead, Rebrov’s men lost their composure and barely threatened. And we will do well to see a better goal at this tournament.

Captain Stanciu was the man of the moment with a supreme strike but Real Madrid goalkeeper Lunin was at fault – not for the last time in this match. The 25-year-old played 31 games for the champions of Europe and Spain this season but this game capped off a hellish month.

Lunin had deputised admirably for Thibaut Courtois for the majority of this campaign only to fall to a virus on the eve of the Champions League final and ended up being replaced by the big Belgian.

It was his mistake which indirectly led to the first goal as he passed the ball straight to Romania’s excellently-named Dennis Man. The Parma forward fed Stanciu, who wrapped his foot around the ball and flung a piledriver into the top corner.

Ukraine barely threatened from there and Lunin was again at fault as they went two goals behind, this time completely diving over the ball as Razvan Marin fired one into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty box. A well-hit shot but awful goalkeeping.

They added a third minutes later to put the game to bed as influential Man was the man again to tee up Denis Dragus for a tap-in. This time Lunin was not at fault, but statuesque defending was punished by clever build-up play.

By this point, the Romanian fans were in excellent voice, toasting to their best-ever win at a major tournament. Back in Ukraine, national broadcaster Megogo cut out for the last 20 minutes. It was probably for the best.

More to follow...