WORLD CUP QUALIFYING GROUP H: England 1 Ukraine 1:APPARENTLY THIS England side are now officially the third best international team in the world. Or, at least, that is what Fifa would like us to believe through its increasingly perplexing ranking system. The whole process can seem flawed, to say the least, the more so on nights like these, when their performance lacked so much cohesion.
Ukraine, for the record, lie 39th in Fifa’s rankings but it needed a Frank Lampard penalty three minutes from the end to spare Roy Hodgson from the near-certainty of experiencing what it is like to manage a team who are booed off at Wembley. England’s finish was dispiriting in other ways, with Steven Gerrard sent off a minute after the equaliser because of a challenge on Denys Garmash.
Gerrard had already been booked for an elbowing offence that might itself have seen him sent off earlier in the second half. It was an unsatisfactory way to end the match but England had, at least, shown a measure of spirit to recover from Ievgenii Konoplyanka’s brilliant 38th-minute effort.
At other times some old failings could be detected in terms of not taking enough care of the ball and looking lethargic in possession. Hodgson’s England are clearly still a work in progress, but it was alarming to see the difficulties posed by a side who know the importance of moving the ball quickly. England certainly began slowly, and when Ukraine took the lead, it was deserved on the balance of play.
The goal came a couple of minutes after England had squandered an outstanding chance of their own, when Jermain Defoe headed Gerrard’s cross across the six-yard area and Tom Cleverley, sliding in, had the goal gaping only for his shot to rebound off the goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov’s foot from point-blank range.
Reprieved, Ukraine worked the ball, from right to left, culminating in Konoplianka taking over 30 yards out, cutting inside Gerrard and unleashing a swerving, diagonal shot into the top left-hand corner of Joe Hart’s goal.
Earlier, with virtually England’s first attack, Defoe darted between three Ukraine players and drilled a shot inside Pyatov’s near post. The finish was exemplary and Defoe was entitled to be upset that the Turkish referee decided the striker had unfairly palmed off Andriy Yarmolenko in the process. In truth, it was little more than the briefest of contacts.
By that point England were looking too vulnerable in defence and threatened only sporadically.
Cleverley looked anything but England’s equivalent of Cesc Fabregas, to use Hodgson’s billing after the Moldova game while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was willing but raw. There was also, perhaps most disappointingly of all, nobody who seemed to want to take control of the situation. Gerrard and Lampard could not assert themselves.
England certainly left it late. Daniel Welbeck’s introduction gave the attack new impetus and it was his presence inside the penalty area that led to Yevgen Khacheridi’s handball giving Lampard the chance to save a point.
Guardian Service
ENGLAND: Hart, Johnson, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines (Bertrand 73), Lampard, Gerrard, Milner, Cleverley (Welbeck 62), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Sturridge 69), Defoe. Sent Off: Gerrard (88).
UKRAINE: Pyatov, Gusev, Khacheridi, Rakitskiy, Selin (Shevchuk 75), Tymoschuk, Rotan (Nazarenko 90), Yarmolenko, Garmash, Konoplianka, Zozulya (Devic 89).
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir(Turkey).
