Davie Selke's early goal set the tone for a largely dominant first-half performance by Germany. An even more commanding performance in the second half meant that Ukraine barely had a sniff at goal, as Selke wrapped up another great performance with his second brace of the tournament.
Both teams knew that a win would confirm the victors as the top team in Group B. Germany, after a tough 2-2 draw against Serbia, made just one change. Jeremy Dudziak had injured his shoulder in the stalemate and was replaced in the squad by Wolfsburg's Sebastian Stolze; after the Borussia Dortmund man was confirmed to miss the next three months with that injury. He was replaced in the starting eleven by Marc Stendera, with Hany Mukhtar being shifted out to the right.
Ukraine, who had an equally testing match against Bulgaria, made two changes. Vyacheslav Tankovskiy, the match winner against Bulgaria, and Evgen Chumak came in for Ukraine, with Yuriy Tkachuk and Artem Radchenko making way. They could afford to lose and still remain in the competition, knowing a Bulgarian win or draw would knock Serbia out of contention and mean both sides would qualify for the semi-finals/
Germany got the game underway and were ahead with another early goal. Davie Selke was played in by Marc Stendera, the Werder Bremen striker turned his man and fired low and hard past Bogdan Sarnavskiy. The goalkeeper and captain may have felt he could have done better, but after such a natural turn and finish, the German's weren't complaining when Selke netted his fourth goals in three games. The striker ran straight to the bench to pay tribute to injured winger Jeremy Dudziak, who will miss the remainder of the tournament.
Sarnavskiy, who was being kept extremely busy in the opening stages, had to be alert to a lackadaisical back pass from Mykyta Burda, almost letting Selke in to score his second brace of the tournament. The Ukrainians looked most dangerous in the air and Eduard Sobol rose highest from the dangerous Viktor Kovalenko's corner, but couldn't direct it towards goal. A 25-yard-drive from Ihor Kharatin was then pushed away by Oliver Schnitzler; who, from the resulting corner, had his crossbar rattled by Burda's header, as Ukraine pressed for an equaliser.
Germany, after withstanding the Ukrainian assault, managed to miss a golden chance to make it 2-0. A wonderful ball from Niklas Stark found Julian Brandt, a lucky bounce saw him touch it past his marker and he picked out Stendera. The Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder tried to slice the ball into the bottom corner, following a wonderful touch, but the ball fizzed wide of the Ukraine goal. Joshua Kimmich also went within inches of doubling Germany's advantage, but after a surging run his shot went just wide of Sarnavskiy's post. The Germans were constantly keen to break down the right hand side, but poor touches from Brandt and Kevin Akpoguma prevented them from making the most of dangerous opportunities. Levin Öztunalı then rattled the post with a 30-yard fizzer, which dipped and swerved out of Sarnavskiy's reach.
The second half began with Ukraine, again, looking dangerous from the dead ball. Miscommunication between Stark and Schnitzler led to the captain's header just about drifting to safety. Andriy Markovych then went into the referee's notebook after a late challenge on Hany Mukhtar; the midfielder feeling the full force of the defender's challenge, with Fabian Holthaus particularly unhappy with the guilty party. Stendera had a pop at goal following a kind bounce of the ball; Sarnavskiy got down well to save and he was relieved when Brandt and Mukhtar were judged to be offside preventing them from an easy tap-in.
An even better chance was to follow, when the impressive Stendera slipped in Selke, but the in-form striker left his shot over the on-rushing goalkeeper and Germany were left to rue another missed opportunity. However, just minutes later, the Bremen man couldn't be stopped. A lovely, jinking run by Öztunalı allowed him to slip through Selke; he evaded the attentions of some poor Ukrainian defending to slot home, as the rest of the team looked on. Selke, who only has Franco di Santo and Nils Petersen ahead of him, will be hoping that Robin Dutt can show faith in him. With the goal drawing him level alongside top-scorer André Silva, who has scored five, pushing for a start would not be out of his reach.
Substitutions and a fouls dominated the latter exchanges, with Germany keen to protect their players from injury; this was the last thing they wanted. Hany Mukhtar was regularly in the wars and with Felix Lohkemper coming off the bench to make a nuisance of himself, Ukraine were praying for the final whistle.
The 2-0 win meant Germany advanced to face neighbours Austria in the semi-finals, avoiding the dangerous Portugal. Ukraine, who took no chances through-out the game, were dumped out thanks to a last minute Serbia goal. Die Nationalmannschaft's youngsters will be keen to follow in the foot-steps of their older, world conquering countrymen and prevail against even tougher opposition as the tournament enters its final stages.