Wales manager Chris Coleman admitted his side would be targeted at set pieces during Euro 2016 after Ukraine again exposed his side’s weakness, with Andriy Yarmolenko finishing expertly from Ruslan Rotan’s 28th-minute free-kick.
Monday night’s defeat followed the 1-1 draw against Northern Ireland in Cardiff on Thursday when Craig Cathcart had punished Wales from a corner.
“In both games [against Northern Ireland and Ukraine] I was pleased overall with the players,” Coleman said. “The only thing I’m disappointed with is that we conceded both goals from set plays and sometimes a pattern can emerge.
“First of all I must look at myself as a manager and a coach and look to adjust something in the preparation. If you look at our record in open play in the last 15 games the amount of goals we’ve conceded is not very much. I’m not giving any secrets away, the opposition will look at the stats. It’s definitely something we need to go and work on.”
Coleman had said before the game that going to Kiev was a “risk” given the test likely to be posed by their fellow Euro 2016 finalists and once again they were without Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey.
Ukraine took time to settle and Yarmolenko scored from their first meaningful attack with a sweet half-volley after Rotan had floated the ball over the Wales wall. After the interval, Ukraine were happy to play on the counter-attack and Joe Allen, Jazz Richards and Shaun MacDonald all forced saves from Andrij Pyatov in the home goal.
Coleman added. “We’ve come to a tough place to play but we were the team that dictated the tempo. Apart from the goal Wayne Hennessey had one shot to save. We know it’s a good test for us because when we play Russia and Slovakia in the Euros it will be very similar.”
Ukraine’s coach, Mykhaylo Fomenko, was pleased with the result but said there was room for improvement. “This was just a friendly game. We did something right, something wrong but I can be satisfied with the result,” he said.
Their group includes Northern Ireland and Fomenko added: “Wales, like Northern Ireland, are difficult because it is British football, but they are different teams. But we showed we can be different in our tactics and we have shown what we need to do. It is two months before the tournament and we will be prepared.”
