GROUP SIX:FOR 10 uncomfortable minutes Fabio Capello seemed as confounded as so many England managers before him. He continued to be different, all the same, because there was a reply to the equaliser from substitute Andriy Shevchenko. Then, after 85 minutes, David Beckham, on for Aaron Lennon, piloted a free-kick from the left and Steven Gerrard's downward header was knocked into the net by captain John Terry for the winner.
This felt, to begin with, like the first authentic challenge Capello’s England had experienced at Wembley. In its way that was invigorating for a side that must have been unmoved by most of the games here.
When they did take the lead through Peter Crouch there was a tone of achievement, even if the breakthrough came in an unexpectedly simple manner.
With 29 minutes gone, Frank Lampard sent over a deep corner from the left, Terry headed down and Crouch, in his first start under Capello, volleyed into the net.
The match itself had not been so elementary. There was abrasiveness, with cautions rapidly issued to Gareth Barry and then Taras Mykhalyk. While Terry had intended no harm when he bloodied Andriy Voronin’s nose with a swinging arm, it was an incident that seemed to belong here.
While Capello’s men had territorial domination, the opposition were not cowed before the interval. Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko, however, is a novice by comparison with Capello.
There were weaknesses here and not merely when Crouch broke the deadlock. In particular, Wayne Rooney was in no mood to be contained by the holding midfielder, captain Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, or anyone else. The Manchester United attacker completed a long one-two with Lennon 10 minutes before the interval, but then hit a poorly directed drive. By that stage, Ukraine had seen signs of hope all the same.
Barry, with that yellow card to his name, seemed to bring down Aretem Milevsky at a free-kick, but there were no passionate appeals for a penalty. The occasional uncomfortable incident cropped up for England, as when an attempt by Tymoshchuk cannoned off David James’s chest.
If the Ukrainian manager did carry an advantage to Wembley it lay in the fact that his squad was nearer to full strength than England’s, who had lost three strikers to injury. Some would still reply that this is of scant help when the worth of some players is under scrutiny. It could be argued, for instance, that Voronin arrived with something to prove, but that is also a euphemistic way of saying he had fared badly with Liverpool.
Shevchenko might have kicked off in a similar state of mind to the Hertha Berlin attacker, but he is in such decline that he was named as a mere substitute.
Mykhaylychenko reacted to a vapid showing from Voronin by replacing him with Shevchenko.
England, holding the lead, had no need to search for verve and the alteration from Capello was the anticipated introduction of Beckham for Lennon. Judging by the acclaim, the 33-year-old, collecting his 110th cap, is turning into a grand old man.
A free-kick seemed within his range after 64 minutes, but it dipped a little late and cleared the crossbar.
There were few signs England were on the verge of putting the match beyond the visitors’ reach.
This had turned into a staid affair and therein lay the danger for fading England. With 75 minutes gone, a free-kick from the right broke to Shevchenko who fired past James.
Guardian Service
ENGLAND:James; Johnson, Ferdinand (Jagielka 88), Terry, A Cole; Lennon (Beckham 58), Lampard, Barry, Gerrard, Crouch (Wright-Phillips 79), Rooney.
UKRAINE:Pyatov; Shevchuk, Chygrynskiy, Mykhalyk, Yarmash; Tymoschuk, Valyayev (Nazarenko 61), Slyusar (Kalinichenko 89), Aliev; Voronin (Shevchenko 55), Milevskiy.
Referee:Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark).
