Match Summary

England Team

Ukraine Team

A magnificent win, against all the odds, sees England qualify for the knockout stage of the European Championships of 2012.  Not only that but they topped their group as well!  The expectations of the team at the start of the tournament was probably as low as it can get, but the players have knuckled down and they have reaped the rewards for all the hard work they have put in.

With Wayne Rooney's selection ahead of Andy Carroll being the only change from the Swedish game by manager Roy Hodgson, the continuity of a side in form was maintained.  In the early stages of this game against the Ukraine both teams had a tentative look at each other.  The Ukraine, co-hosts and backed by an army of fans that outnumbered the England fans by 8 to 1, looked to fire in a shot atery opportunity. Yevhen Konoplyanka was the first to try his luck and he was closely followed by an effort from Denys Garmash.  Both shots flew well over and Joe Hart was untroubled.  England were surrendering possession to their hosts but defending in numbers and stifling anything that threatened their goal.

Rooney had to wait over five minutes for his first proper touch and it was soon obvious that he was match rusty as twice his control let him down.  The match was being played at a very slow pace, which suited England, but John Terry made an excellent block to thwart one Ukraine shot.  Another home attack ended with a shot over the bar, this after an error by Ashley Young, whilst at the other end a trademark Steven Gerrard free-kick almost set Rooney up.  In the end goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov somehow scooped the ball away for a corner.

Despite the Ukraine enjoying the bulk of the possession it was England who had the best scoring chance to date.  In the 27th minute a superb cross from the left by Young saw Rooney make space for himself well to receive the cross.  It looked the perfect return for the Manchester United star as he would surely score.  But again his rustiness showed and he put his free header wide.  Two minutes later and the Ukraine put a good attack together which ended with Andriy Yarmolenko forcing Hart into a low diving save.

Possession wise, Ukraine were on top, but England had that comfortable air about them, with Terry and Joleon Lescott shoring up the middle whilst Glen Johnson and Ashley Cole were playing well at full-back.  Hart was largely untroubled and for all their efforts Ukraine lacked ideas and they still had it all to do at the break.

It would be interesting to see how the second half panned out, because a goal to either team would change things dramatically at this stage, and would you believe it England made a breakthrough just two minutes into the second half.  Once again it was the skipper who set up the goal.  Gerrard picked the ball up wide on the right and forged his way past a defender to cross the ball.  To be honest it looked a pretty innocuous centre, but the ball took a couple of slight deflections and the goalkeeper completely messed it up leaving the jubilant Rooney free at the far post to nod the ball in from a yard out.  It was probably the easiest goal of his career, but it was just the tonic England needed.

For the next few minutes the Ukraine pushed forward and managed to force several corners.  None of which produced anything too dangerous as England continued to defend in a disciplined manner.  The discipline was certainly the feature of England's play and there were few occasions when the home side threatened Hart's goal.  He did have to tip one shot over, but that was a comfortable save.  And then from one Ukraine corner Gerrard, showing all his outstanding qualities throughout this match, intercepted the ball and chased out to the right before spotting Rooney's run and hitting a brilliant first time pass to send the striker away.  A fitter and sharper Rooney would probably have gone directly towards goal, but alas he ran out of steam after a lung-bursting 60 yard run, and in the end checked back to tee up the incoming James Milner.  He mishit his shot and the chance was gone.

On the hour mark, Ukraine missed their best chance when a close range header from Artem Milevskij flew over.  There was a hint of offside there and the same could be said in the Ukraine's next attack.  Marko Dević eventually gained possession just inside the area having outpaced Terry.  He seemed certain to score as he side-stepped Hart and shot for goal.  Hart brilliantly half-stopped the ball but it still looped towards goal.  Credit Terry at that moment as the defender never gave up on it and managed to fly-kick the ball away from goal.  What he didn't know was that the ball appeared to already be over the line, but for once England were given the slice of luck that has so evaded them over the past umpteen years and umpteen tournaments, as the line judge didn't give a goal.  Poetic justice, without a doubt, not only with the Frank Lampard Blomfontein World Cup incident still fresh in all our minds, but also in the fact that initially the Ukraine forward was well offside when the ball was played forward.

Two minutes after that incident Scott Parker was brought down on the edge of the Ukraine box after another swift breakaway attack from England.  Rooney took the kick but the ball went the wrong side of the post.  Ukraine still pressed forward, although there was little conviction in their play.  To me it seemed that they were a little overawed by the reputation of England and although they created a couple of half-chances the England defenders were more than comfortable with the situation.  In fact on 67 minutes England nearly scored a second goal when a right-wing cross eventually landed at Cole's feet.  He turned smartly and fired in a good shot only to see Pyatov make a fine save.  That would have been nice for Cole to score his first goal in this his 97th appearance for his country.

With just over 20 minutes to go Hodgson made his first change as Theo Walcott replaced the tiring Milner.  Ukraine brought on their main man, former Chelsea star, Andriy Shevchenko, but his main contribution to the game was a dreadful tackle on Young, for which the Ukranian was rightly booked.  As the play swung from end to end, Gerrard was unluckily booked, and then Hart was almost deceived by a wicked dipping and swerving shot from Konoplyanka.  The Manchester City player's big left-hand getting him out of trouble before Lescott completed the clearance.  That was to be the last real chance for the hosts as England safely negotiated the last part of the match.  Carroll came on for the disappointing Danny Welbeck, and it might have been a better idea for Hodgson to bring the big man on a little earlier, as immediately he began to ruffle the Ukraine defence with his extra energy.  But no matter, the challenge had been faced and the job was done.

There were some jubilant England faces on that pitch at the end and how they had earned their passage through to the next round.  There were some very good performances too, with Gerrard and Terry being the pick of the team.  Now, as group winners, they face Italy in Kiev.  It should be fun again as there is so much to play for!
 

Source Notes