This match may have been played in Murcia, Spain, but Ukraine’s ‘home’ supporters and players certainly made themselves known in the early stages.
They also gave Thibaut Courtois work to do following a return to the Red Devils that included some controversy, as the goalkeeper got down well to deny Viktor Tsygankov and Roman Yaremchuk. Belgium soon grew into proceedings, although Kevin De Bruyne and Leandro Trossard both fired off-target before Andriy Lunin bravely leapt at Romelu Lukaku’s feet to halt his burst forward.
There was still a blow for the Blue and Yellow, as Yukhym Konoplia was forced off injured in the 25th minute after Trossard fell and landed on the right-back’s leg.
Despite that unfortunate moment and Belgium’s growing dominance of possession, Sergiy Rebrov’s team stood firm to limit the away side’s opportunities, while Thomas Meunier completely missed the ball from a potential chance and De Bruyne’s intelligent strike hit the side netting.
However, they were undone in the 40th minute when Lukaku glanced De Bruyne’s pinpoint free-kick past Lunin.
Lunin was equal to two De Bruyne shots from outside the box after the restart but there was still more frustration for the home side. Oleksiy Sych was forced off before the hour mark having been the man to replace Konoplia, before Oleksandr Zinchenko’s free-kick cannoned off the post and stayed out.
That soon made way for jubilation, as Oleksiy Hutsuliak came on as part of a triple change following the injury and took just five minutes to dispossess Maxim De Cuyper before sliding home the equaliser.
Another of those substitutes scored seven minutes later, with Vladyslav Vanat converting from Tsygankov’s deflected pass.
Incredibly, Ilya Zabarnyi then poked Zinchenko’s cross into the net three minutes later to earn his side some breathing space.
Zabarnyi then denied Youri Tielemans’ dangerous low cross, as Ukraine went a fifth consecutive match unbeaten and gave themselves an advantage heading into this UNL play-off’s second leg in Genk on Sunday.
The Blue and Yellow also condemned Belgium to a sixth consecutive winless match - a run they hadn’t previously endured since 2009 - and a fourth defeat in a row.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Oleksandr Zinchenko (Ukraine)