England’s perfect record in the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign came to an end as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Ukraine in a dull encounter in Poland on Saturday. Kyle Walker scored his most memorable global objective for England to cancel out Oleksandr Zinchenko’s opener for Ukraine, however neither one of the sides could track down a champ in a game that lacked quality and excitement.
England overwhelmed ownership all along, yet battled to separate an efficient Ukrainian guard. The guests had a couple of half-chances, with Bukayo Saka’s shot blocked and Harry Kane’s header saved by Georgiy Bushchan, however they lacked creativity and infiltration.
Ukraine, in the mean time, looked perilous on the counter-attack, and started to lead the pack in the 26th moment with a slick move. Yukhym Konoplya found space on the right flank and crossed the ball for Zinchenko, who escaped from Declan Rice and opened the ball past Jordan Pickford with a flawless completion.
The objective shocked England, who attempted to quickly answer. Jordan Henderson squandered a decent open door when he selected to pass rather than shoot in the wake of being set up by Kane, while James Maddison’s free-kick was handily held by Bushchan.
England at last leveled in the 41st moment, because of a splendid pass from Kane and a composed completion from Walker. The Tottenham striker dropped profound and lobbed the ball over the Ukrainian safeguard, tracking down Walker’s run into the crate. The Manchester City defender controlled the ball with one touch and terminated it past Bushchan with his left foot, scoring his most memorable objective for England on his 77th appearance.
The second half was business as usual, with England having a greater amount of the ball yet neglecting to create clear chances. Saka came closest to scoring when he cut inside from the left and released a curling shot that was tipped onto the crossbar by Bushchan.
Gareth Southgate rolled out certain improvements, welcoming on Phil Foden, Marcus Rashford and Conor Gallagher for Maddison, Jude Bellingham and Saka respectively, however they didn’t make a big deal about an impact.
Ukraine protected unfalteringly and searched for amazing chances to hit England on the break. Zinchenko got an opportunity to score his second objective when he was played through by Roman Yaremchuk, however his shot was blocked by Harry Maguire.
England had a punishment bid turned somewhere near VAR after Saka’s shot hit Mykola Matviyenko’s arm, while Maguire was reserved for a foul on Bushchan after he attempted to score from a free-kick.
The game finished with the two groups making due with a point, which keeps England at the highest point of Group C with 13 places, six in front of second-placed Ukraine. Italy are third with three places, trailed by North Macedonia and Malta with zero focuses each.
England will hope to bounce back from this frustrating performance when they face Italy at Wembley on October 12th, while Ukraine will expect to expand on this outcome when they take on North Macedonia on October 11th.
