Updated September 12, 2012 09:24:07
Frank Lampard rescued a point for England when he scored an 87th minute penalty to force a 1-1 draw with Ukraine in their Group H World Cup qualifier at Wembley on Wednesday (AEST).
England finished with 10 men when captain Steven Gerrard was sent off a minute after the equaliser for a second yellow card as it struggled following Friday's opening 5-0 win in Moldova.
Ukraine looked like inflicting a rare home World Cup defeat on England after Evhen Konoplianka's stunning 39th minute goal, until Lampard struck after Evhen Khacheridi handled in the area.
England substitute Danny Welbeck hit the post just before the equaliser and Jermain Defoe had a goal ruled out for an infringement in the first half but Ukraine also had chances and in the end was disappointed to leave with just one point.
The home side had the best chances in the first half although Ukraine started brighter and played better football, keeping possession and pressing the hosts back into defence.
England was unlucky not to score in the 11th minute when Defoe found the net with a fierce shot from 20 metres only for Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir to disallow the effort, ruling the striker illegally challenged Andriy Yarmolenko in the build-up.
England began to get on top as the half wore on and Defoe set up Tom Cleverley with a golden opportunity after 34 minutes but the midfielder shot straight at keeper Andriy Pyatov's feet.
Cleverley later missed two other scoring chances, scuffing one and hitting the outside of the post with the other.
Ukraine's 39th minute goal, which Konoplianka curled home delightfully from 20 metres, was not a total shock for the home fans because Ukraine looked dangerous in attack from the start.
Oleh Gusyev hit the post with a deflection off Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after four minutes while Ruslan Rotan's effort was cleared by Gerrard after it beat goalkeeper Joe Hart 10 minutes later before Denys Garmash put a difficult chance over the bar.
Elsewhere in European World Cup qualifying, reigning world champion Spain laboured to a 1-0 win away to Georgia courtesy of a late goal from Valencia striker Roberto Soldado.
Handed a rare start ahead of fellow strikers Fernando Torres and David Villa, Soldado fluffed a chance in the first half but made no mistake from close range when set up by substitute Cesc Fabregas in the 86th minute.
It was cruel on the home side, who had held out stubbornly against their illustrious visitors despite seeing little of the ball and losing goalkeeper Giorgi Loria to injury with some 20 minutes from time.
"It was very tough to find space and create chances but at the end we managed to get the breakthrough," said Soldado after taking his tally to four goals in his sixth appearance for Spain.
Italy laboured to a similarly scrappy 2-0 win over Malta in their Group B qualifier in Modena, with an early strike from Mattia Destro and a late Federico Peluso header enough to earn them the three points.
Roma striker Destro latched on to a smart Claudio Marchisio through ball after five minutes but Cesare Prandelli's side struggled to build on their fast start in a lacklustre first half that drew jeers from the crowd.
Napoli's highly-rated Lorenzo Insigne replaced the disappointing Alessandro Diamanti at the start of the second half and Italy showed more attacking intent but had to wait until the last minute for Peluso to head the second goal from an Andrea Pirlo corner.
Germany survived a torrid first half against neighbours Austria before Marco Reus and Mesut Ozil scored either side of half-time to give them a 2-1 win in Vienna.
The Germans clung on for three points and only won after Marko Arnautovic missed a great chance for the hosts in the 87th minute.
Reus burst down the left, cut inside Gyorgy Garics and buried a low shot past Robert Almer three minutes before the break after the feisty hosts, fielding nine German Bundesliga-based players, had looked capable of producing an upset.
Ozil, scorer of two goals in the 3-0 win over Faroe Islands on Friday, converted a penalty after Veli Kavlak recklessly clattered into Thomas Mueller.
Austria, playing its opening match in Group C, refused to lie down and Zlatko Junuzovic pulled one back in the 57th minute, turning in the ball in after Arnautovic forced his way to the byline and sent a low cross into the goalmouth.
In a heavyweight clash in Group A, Belgium recovered from conceding an early goal but failed to capitalise on its second-half dominance in a 1-1 draw with Croatia in Brussels.
The home side, narrow bookmakers' favourites to win the group despite their lowly 40th world ranking, fell a goal behind in the sixth minute, equalising on the stroke of half-time before neat footwork created chances but not goals.
Croatia's Ivan Perisic drove in an easy opener when Vincent Kompany failed to fully clear Darijo Srna's cross.
However Belgium's Guillaume Gillet, the sole home starter still playing for a Belgian club, thundered in an equaliser from a half-cleared corner in the final play of the first half.
In other major European results, Serbia thrashed Wales 6-1 in Novi Sad, the Netherlands humbled Hungary 4-1 on the road in Budapest, France downed Belarus 3-1 in Paris, Scotland drew 1-1 with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in Glasgow and Portugal thumped Azerbaijan 3-0 in Braga.
Reuters/ABC
Tags: sport,
soccer,
soccer-world-cup,
england,
united-kingdom First posted September 12, 2012 08:51:25
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