England Captain Steven Gerrard attempts a tackle at Wembley (Getty Images)
Well pretty much everything that was impressive for England in their away win at Moldova turned out to be less than impressive as the Three Lions took on Ukraine today at Wembley. Their finishing and poise in front of goal was largely absent against a Ukrainian side that was obviously superior to the group England faced in Moldova on last week.
Despite that aspect, England nearly took the lead on 10 minutes. Jermaine Defoe sliced into the penalty are and deposited the ball in the back of the net, but the goal was ruled out. The referee's whistle sounded, ringing up Defoe for a foul on a Ukraine defender and the score remained 0-0. There didn't look to be much in it, but call it karma for Ukraine's fortunes against England in Euro 2012.
Ukraine were more than up for the match and flexed their offensive muscles a few times the first half. Early on Oleg Gusiev seemed to have Joe Hart totally beaten, but Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain saved the day, deflecting the shot off the post. However in the 39th minute Yevhen Konoplianka avoided Gerrard about 25 yards out and got just enough room to squeeze out a shot that found it's way in the top corner of Hart's goal to make it 0-1.
The visitors' goal highlighted an almost comical performance in front of goal by England. In the 35th minute Gerrard sent a nice ball into the box that Defoe headed over to Manchester United's Tom Cleverly, who for some reason smacked the ball right into the 'keeper from close range. He really should have scored. Then in the 44th minute Frank Lampard picked Cleverly out alone in the box, but this time he totally missed the target, screwing his shot wide of the post to keep it 0-1 going into the half.
England came out in the second half looking better and seemed to put Ukraine back on their heels a little bit. Gerrard tried to send a ball into the box off of a wonderful free kick chance, but the Ukrainians were able to clear it harmlessly. In the 71st minute Glen Johnson nearly equalized, but saw his low driven shot just blocked outside of the post.
The Three Lions finally got their big break in the 86th minute. Ukraine defender Yevhen Khacheridi was whistled for a handball in the box, conceding a penalty kick. Frank Lampard stepped up to take the shot and was as automatic as ever, slotting home the goal to even the match at 1-1.
However any hope that the English had of putting in a late winner was dashed in the 88th minute. Gerrard was shown his second yellow card of the night for a tackle on Denys Garmash and earned his marching orders. After the red card the Three Lions just looked to hold on, which they did, preserving the 1-1 score through to the full time whistle.
The win puts England joint top of their qualifying group, tied with Montenegro on 4 pts. Montenegro had beaten San Marino 6-0 earlier in the day. The next round sees the Three Lions hosting San Marino on October 12 and visiting former Euro 2012 cohosts Poland on October 16. Steven Gerrard will miss the San Marino match due to today's sending off.
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