England had to wait until the 87th minute to rescue a point in a nervy 1-1 draw with Ukraine on Tuesday evening.
Frank Lampard rattled in the decisive penalty to secure a share of the spoils after Yevhen Konoplyanka had curled a fantastic effort into the top corner five minutes before the break.
England twice hit the post through Danny Welbeck and Tom Cleverley as they searched for an equaliser, while Steven Gerrard was dismissed in the final moments for a second bookable offence.
With that in mind, Sports Mole dissects the 90 minutes of action between the two Group H rivals.
Match statistics:
England:
Shots: 14
On target: 7
Possession: 50%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 16
Ukraine:
Shots: 8
On target: 4
Possession: 50%
Corners: 5
Fouls: 9
Was the result fair?
On the balance of play, you would have to say yes. Ukraine certainly started the match the stronger, but the home side had a host of opportunities as the half developed. It took a wonder strike from Konoplyanka to hand Ukraine the lead, but England were worth their late point.
England's performance
Must do better. It was a case of same old, same old for England as they struggled to find any real zip to their passing. The central midfield duo of Lampard and Gerrard did not really influence the match, while Jermain Defoe was too isolated in the opening half. They improved deep into the second period, but their performance will not have worried the very top teams.
Ukraine's performance
Ukraine will take plenty of positives from their performance this evening. They dominated the opening period of play – and impressed with the slickness of their passing. They were lucky to escape falling behind when Jermain Defoe had a goal disallowed, but they rallied to take the lead. However, they were made to regret dropping deep as the match approached its latter stages.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Yevhen Konoplyanka: Where has this boy been? The 22-year-old Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk attacker scored a stunning goal and demonstrated his pace and close control throughout the evening. His performance will have alerted the big boys.
Biggest gaffe of the match
For me, this goes to Roy Hodgson for not playing Michael Carrick. England struggled for that final ball throughout the 90 minutes – and there is not a better passer in the country. It was a huge mistake not to play the Manchester United man.
Referee's performance
It was quite an eventful evening for Cuneyt Cakir. The Turk disallowed a Defoe strike in the opening half when it perhaps should have stood. However, he rightly dismissed a late penalty claim for England before sending Gerrard to the stands. He has also in the perfect position to hand England a penalty in the final moments.
What next?
England: England continue their march towards Brazil with a clash against San Marino on October 12, before facing Poland four days later.
Ukraine: Ukraine travel to Moldova on October 12, before facing a home match against Montenegro four days later.
Matt Law
