There were positives. There was a marvellous performance from Danny Welbeck as a second-half substitute; a performance that secured the penalty that Frank Lampard then scored to spare Roy Hodgson the ignominy of becoming the first England manager since Kevin Keegan to lose a World Cup game at Wembley.
But Hodgson came closer than he would have liked to feeling as wretched as Keegan did on that October afternoon 12 years ago.
He might not have felt like resigning in a toilet but he would have been forced to concede that England’s chances of securing a safe passage to Brazil were disappearing down the pan. This is a fine Ukraine side, one more than capable of beating every other team in the qualifying group, and that would have left England staring at a precarious place in the play-offs.
Lampard took his 87th-minute penalty with great composure, driving the ball home with gusto to cancel out Ievgeny Konoplianka’s tremendous first-half strike, but the match ended in something of a state of chaos for England.
There was the sight of Steven Gerrard being dismissed for a second yellow card that rules him out of next month’s game against San Marino. Not to mention the sight of Hodgson waiting for Cuneyt Cakir to inform the Turkish referee what he thought of his decision.
But more perplexing were some of the decisions Hodgson seemed to be making. Welbeck on the left flank? It certainly confused Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Hodgson will no doubt feel vindicated by the fact that Welbeck still made the necessary impact, but he did so by drifting into more central positions where he caused Ukraine real problems. Before unleashing the shot that Yevgen Khacheridi blocked with his arm, Welbeck saw another effort rebound off a post.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2201724/England-1-Ukraine-1-match-report-Frank-Lampard-scores-penalty-S
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