Saturday October 10, 2009; World Cup Qualifier.

Ukraine 1 England 0

Ukraine: Pyatov, Kucher, Kobin, Rakitskiy, Khacheridi, Gai, Tymoschuk, Nazarenko (Yarmolenko 67), Rotan, Shevchenko (Gusev 90), Milevskiy.

England: R.Green, G.Johnson, R.Ferdinand, J.Terry, A.Cole, A.Lennon (D.James 15), M.Carrick, F.Lampard, S.Gerrard (J.Milner 45), W.Rooney, E.Heskey (C.Cole 72).

It was difficult to know what to expect from this game as England had already qualified whilst Ukraine were desperate for a victory to boost their own chances. England came out in positive fashion but were soon derailed by a red card which ensured that they would be up against it for the remainder of a volatile night.

England began brightly enough with Glen Johnson and Aaron Lennon looking especially forceful down the right although the action was more frantic than controlled in the opening stages.

The hostile atmosphere inside the ground quickly took on a more sinister aspect as play was held up for several minutes as a barrage of flares were hurled into Robert Green's goalmouth from the stands.

When play resumed England continued to look the more dangerous side and Frank Lampard produced a lovely ball to release Lennon down the right but Rakitskiy headed away at the near post before an England head could reach the centre.

Emile Heskey did get his head to the resulting corner but the ball flew well over the bar.

There had been little to alarm the England defence but Rio Ferdinand failed his first test of the night, which should have been a simple one, when he allowed a long punt forward to bounce past him and suddenly Milevskiy was running through on goal.

Green dived at the forward's feet but only succeeded in poleaxing him and Ukraine had a penalty.

The referee was absolutely right to give the decision although he had been miles behind play and appeared to need assistance from one of his assistants to finger Green as the culprit rather than Ferdinand. Once that point had been established the West Ham keeper was staring at a red card.

Capello sent on David James and decided that Lennon was the man who should be sacrificed.

After all this commotion England survived further punishment as Schevchenko slid his penalty against the outside of the post with James hurling himself in the opposite direction.

With a moment to think it was difficult to agree with Capello's decision to withdraw Lennon who had started in lively fashion. Pace is a useful weapon to have when playing with a man less and it was something England now lacked for the rest of the night.

Either Heskey or Michael Carrick appeared to be more obvious men to replace. The holding midfield player is a luxury you can't really afford when you only have ten on and a centre forward who never scores also becomes a problem.

But they stayed on with Heskey left up front on his own, Carrick continuing to sit deep in midfield and the ever willing Wayne Rooney replacing Lennon on the right hand side.

After another break for flares to be cleared from the England goalmouth the game continued with Ukraine pressing forward against an England defence that continued to look unsteady.

Just before the half hour mark England pressed the self destruct button again and made absolutely sure that Ukraine were gifted the lead.

Ashley Cole was caught in possession on the edge of his own box by Kobin. Johnson dived in to stop his progress but the ball ran loose to Nazarenko who hammered in a shot that Cole dived full length to head past James.

Nazarenko officially received credit for the goal but this was as clear an own goal as you could wish to see.

With the stadium in uproar England immediately fashioned a great chance to equalise. Rooney slipped a telling ball into Lampard, breaking into the penalty area, but his cross shot flashed a foot wide of the far post.

For the rest of the half England were at full stretch trying to keep the deficit down to one, however. Schevchenko pulled a good chance wide and Gai sent a free header over the bar following a corner but the break came with England still in contention.

Half Time: Ukraine 1 England 0

There was a further blow for England as Steven Gerrard could not continue after the break with James Milner coming onto the left hand side.

England were able to exert more control of the proceedings after the break, with Ukraine perhaps wary of pushing forward too vigourously now that they had the lead.

Rakitskiy did slam in one fierce drive from distance that had James diving full length to parry. It was difficult to tell whether this was a great save or poor positioning in the first place because the shot looked pretty central when James managed to intercept.

England were able to pass the ball quite neatly through midfield on several occasions but struggled to create anything resembling a chance once they reached the final third. Rooney provided Lampard with a shooting chance from twenty yards but the Chelsea man decided to have a touch and the opportunity was immediately lost.

I never thought I'd be sat watching Fat Frank and screaming at him to have a pop but here was the occasion.

Ukraine finally produced a telling attack when the substitute Yarmolenko was played in on goal on the left hand side but James spread himself well to make the block and the game entered the dying minutes with the home side still sitting on a precarious lead.

England did manage some late pressure and when Carlton Cole did well to set up Rooney for a shot just outside the box it looked as though England might be about to salvage a draw but his strong drive flashed a yard wide. There was still a corner for the home side to negotiate but when Lampard stabbed over, under pressure, from close range Ukraine had made it and England had suffered their first competitive defeat under Fabio Capello.

It was unusual to be able to watch an England defeat in such a relaxed manner and it is hard to read anything into the defeat given the red card to Robert Green.

The way in which the red card came about and the goal was conceded both asked further questions about England's defence and goalkeepers, however, with Rio Ferdinand undoubtedly having most to think about in the aftermath.

Full Time: Ukraine 1 England 0

England: R.Green 5, G.Johnson 7, R.Ferdinand 4, J.Terry 6, A.Cole 5, A.Lennon 6 (D.James 6), M.Carrick 6, F.Lampard 6, S.Gerrard 6 (J.Milner 5), W.Rooney 7, E.Heskey 5 (C.Cole 6).

Star Player: Wayne Rooney

Rooney worked as hard as you would expect after being asked to fill in on the right hand side after Green's red card and also provided a few moments of quality in attack.