The easy 4-0 victory over Slovakia had left England full of confidence ahead of their important World Cup qualifier against Ukraine at Wembley. Having won their opening 4 games, England topped Group 6, 5 points clear of Croatia and Ukraine. Ukraine though, were looking to protect their own unbeaten record in this qualifying campaign, and had a game in hand on England, so victory for the visitors would leave them in a position to overhaul England at the top of the group. Ukraine also hadn’t lost since May last year, a run of results which had seen them rise to 14th in the world rankings, just 5 places behind England. England would have to be wary of their opponents, who certainly had the potential to pull off a surprise result.

England named 2 changes from the team that had started against Slovakia 4 days earlier. Peter Crouch and Rio Ferdinand had both shaken off injuries and replaced Emile Heskey and Matthew Upson respectively. Aaron Lennon continued on the right side of midfield, preferred to David Beckham. The Ukrainians named former Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko only on the bench, with Andriy Voronin, on loan at Hertha Berlin from Liverpool, starting up front.

One thing that became apparent early on was that Ukraine weren’t going to be pushovers like Slovakia were. The visitors didn’t allow England a lot of time on the ball, restricting England to an overhead kick from Wayne Rooney that went onto the roof of the net, and a Steven Gerrard free kick which curled just wide. Gradually though, England began to take control of the game, and the deadlock was broken just short of the half hour mark. A good move by England resulted in Rooney’s header being deflected behind for a corner. From the resulting set piece, John Terry headed into the path of Peter Crouch, whose acrobatic swivel volley couldn’t be kept out by Pyatov in the Ukraine goal. Prior to conceding, Ukraine’s defence had looked stubborn and resolute, not allowing England many chances. Their attack however, barely got into the game, lacking any real creativity. Their best effort of the 1st half came via Anatoliy Tymoschuk, whose long range effort swerved in the air, and David James could only parry the shot. Fortunately, John Terry was on hand to hoof the rebound clear. That was the best an unimaginative Ukrainian attack could muster.

England on the other hand, were starting to relax, and despite not looking as though they would reproduce the fast flowing, quick football they had displayed against Slovakia, England were creating chances. A clever dummy pass from Rooney gave Gerrard time and space on the edge of the area, although his effort was comfortably saved by Pyatov. Towards the end of the half, Crouch saw a header on goal cleared away by a Ukraine defender. At the interval, it was Crouch’s 13th goal in 15 internationals that gave England a deserved 1-0 lead.

The 2nd half was a lot tighter than the 1st, with fewer chances as both defences strived not to give away what could be a crucial goal. The first real opening of note was a dazzling run by Rooney from the halfway line, which culminated in him trying his luck from 30 yards, firing the ball just wide. David Beckham, receiving his 110th cap when he came on as a 2nd half substitute, glided a free kick onto the roof of the net. Tension was creeping into England’s game, players and fans alike were beginning to sense that they needed a 2nd goal to kill off this plucky Ukrainian side. A second goal in the game did eventually arrive, bit it was for Ukraine. Set pieces were going to be their most likely method of scoring, due to their primarily defensive tactics, and so it proved. A free kick from the right wasn’t properly dealt with by the English defence, and the ball ricocheted back to Andriy Shevchenko, brought on as a substitute to try and snatch an equaliser, who did just that, firing past James to stun Wembley into silence. Not long after, the visitors nearly took a shock lead, with Shevchenko again causing England’s defence all sorts of problems. His cross from the right found Tymoschuk in the area, only Ukraine’s captain to slice horribly wide. With their 100% record under threat, England picked up the pace, determined not to drop points at home. Rooney fired into the sidenetting. Then, Beckham floated a free kick from the right touchline almost perfectly onto the had of Gerrard, who nodded the ball across goal into the path of John Terry, who turned home what proved to be a vital winner with just 5 minutes remaining. Shevchenko tried to salvage a point late on, but his free kick was easily saved by James. As the final whistle blew, Wembley breathed a collective sigh of relief, as captain John Terry’s late goal had rescued a win, when it seemed England were going to be held to a draw.

The hard earned 2-1 win preserved England’s 100% record in the group. This was one of those occasions that required England to grind out a result, as oppose to playing silky smooth, fast, free flowing football. Ukraine lacked ambition, yet still managed to give England an almighty scare. England were far from brilliant, but showed a determined, resilient side to their game, and impressively, despite not playing well, showed the belief that they could score another goal after being pegged back. This shows the confidence that Fabio Capello has brought to the side. England have a perfect record in the group as they reach the halfway point in qualifying. Their next 2 qualifiers are in June, a trip to Kazakhstan, followed by a home game with Andorra. Realistically, England should win those at a canter, and doing so would all but secure top spot in the group and a place in next year’s World Cup. However, Capello will make sure that his side keep completely focused. So long as England keep their foot on the pedal and don’t get complacent, then England should be on the plane to South Africa for the World Cup next summer.

By Chris Sykes