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The England team forced Ukraine to surrender 1-0 and took first place in Group D of the European Championship.
True, the winners were "helped" by referee Viktor Kassai, who did not count the hosts' goal, even though the ball had already crossed the goal line.
Reuters photo.
In the quarter-final stage, R. Hodgson's players will meet the Italians.
At the beginning of the match, the home team players J. Konoplyanka and O. Gusev attempted to threaten the opponents' goal with long shots, but lacked accuracy.
In the 27th minute, A. Young crossed the ball, but W. Rooney, who had returned to the lineup, failed to hit the ball.
Soon after, the Ukrainian team responded with a dangerous attack, and goalkeeper J. Hart had to demonstrate his skill.
Immediately after the break, the English managed to score a goal - S. Gerrard passed the ball to the penalty area, the home defenders failed to clear it, and ultimately the goalkeeper A. Pyatov, failing to grab the ball, made a series of mistakes. W. Rooney just had to head the ball into the net and the English surged ahead 1-0.
Reuters photo.
The Ukrainian team tried to respond in the same way - A. Milevskiy shot inaccurately, and in the 62nd minute, during a fast attack, M. Devic deceived the opponents' defenders, goalkeeper, and directed the ball towards the goal. In the final moment, an English defender even knocked the ball that crossed the goal line, but to the Ukrainians' amazement, the referee did not count the goal.
In the 69th minute, O. Blokhin sent striker A. Shevchenko onto the field, who could not start the match due to a knee injury, but the veteran failed to create dangerous opportunities and the English celebrated victory.
Statistics
England 1 - 0 Ukraine
48' [1 - 0] W. Rooney
