A GOLDEN summer of sport? Not when you've got England's footballers to consistently bring you back down to earth with a bump.

Not content with ruining June with their laboured performances at the European Championships, Roy Hodgson's side ensured any lingering post-Olympic and Paralympic feelgood factor would not spread to Wembley with another poor display in their opening home qualifier for the next World Cup.

Frank Lampard's 87th-minute penalty might have cancelled out Ievgenii Konoplianka's stunning long-range strike to secure a point, but so much of what went before it was a repeat of many of the failings that have been apparent for a number of years now.

Defensive fragility, a lack of defensive midfield protection and a paucity of natural goalscorers – all were apparent on a night that exposed Friday's 5-0 win in Moldova for exactly what it was, a meaningless stroll against extremely limited opposition.

Faced with a half-decent side – and let's not pretend a Ukraine outfit that failed to get out of the groups at the Euros are any great shakes – England were generally found wanting.

The 88th-minute dismissal of skipper Steven Gerrard for a second yellow card merely added to the sense of frustration.

The most alarming aspect of the evening was England's defending in the absence of the injured John Terry. Ukraine were a goal ahead at the interval, and could arguably have been further clear such was the extent of the alarm they caused their opponents.

The danger signs were apparent four minutes in. Joe Hart had already been forced into a hurried clearance when poor positioning from Leighton Baines enabled Oleg Gusiev to deliver a hanging cross from the right.

For a second, it looked as though Hart would be unable to prevent it looping over him, but the Manchester City goalkeeper got enough of a hand to the ball to palm it onto the outside of the post.

Ten minutes later, Hart was called into action again, saving Ruslan Rotan's low shot with his legs after Phil Jagielka's panicked tackle on Konoplianka led to the ball breaking loose.

Ukraine threatened on the counter-attack throughout the opening period, and whereas Gerrard and Lampard had been defensively secure in Moldova, four days later there were plenty of reminders of their limitations as defensive midfielders.

Ukraine's attacking players were given far too much room in which to receive possession, and while Denys Garmash was unable to take advantage in the 30th minute, stabbing Yevgen Selin's cross wide, the visitors made the breakthrough their play deserved nine minutes later.

No one closed down Konoplianka as he cut in from the left, and after stepping inside Gerrard, the Dnipro midfielder unleashed a venomous 25-yard drive that arrowed into the top right-hand corner.

The goal had been coming, although England could justifiably feel aggrieved at not having claimed a success of their own prior to that point.

Just ten minutes had gone when Jermain Defoe saw a successful effort controversially ruled out by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir. Defoe was penalised for handing off Andrii Yarmolenko before going on to drill a fierce 20-yard finish past Andrii Piatov. There was undoubted contact as the Spurs striker wrestled for position, but it was the kind of brush off that would surely have gone unpunished in the Premier League.

England could have done with the early goal, as they struggled to get into their stride. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Tom Cleverley caught the eye repeatedly in Chisinau, but both youngsters were below par as the hosts squandered the opportunities that came their way.

Oxlade-Chamberlain failed to make an impact from the left, while Cleverley spurned two glorious opportunities before the break.

The first miss was the most glaring, with the Manchester United midfielder drilling a close-range shot straight at Piatov when Defoe's cushioned header from Gerrard's cross found him unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box.

Cleverley also shanked a 44th-minute shot well wide of the target, and while he turned to shoot against the top of the right-hand post moments later, his lack of composure was a major worry given the importance of his role as England's most prominent attacking midfielder.

Hodgson's problem is that, in the absence of the injured Wayne Rooney, there are hardly any candidates to replace him, and the presence of the likes of Adam Lallana, Raheem Sterling and even Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge on the bench underlined the shallowness of the attacking talent pool in the English game.

When no one responded to a teasing 49th-minute Glen Johnson cross that whistled across the face of goal, it somehow seemed appropriate.

Welbeck's arrival with 28 minutes left forced a positional reshuffle, with the former Sunderland loanee heading to the left and Oxlade-Chamberlain moving inside despite the two players appearing to be better suited to the opposite position.

In fairness, Welbeck was bright late on, but like his team-mate Cleverley, when an opportunity finally presented itself with eight minutes left, the Manchester United attacker was found wanting.

Sturridge picked him out in the penalty area, but Welbeck drilled a hasty strike against the upright when a more controlled finish would surely have found the net. To his credit though, Welbeck continued to seek involvement, and his enterprise earned the 87th-minute spot-kick that secured a point. In trying to chip the ball over Yevgen Khacheridi in the area, he forced the Ukraine defender to use his hand. Lampard stepped up, as he had in Moldova, and made it three goals in two games.

Sixty seconds later, though, and there was a sting in the tail as Gerrard, who had already been booked for a flailing arm, received a red card when he clattered into Garmash close to the centre circle.