John Terry Leaves It Late to Maintain England's Perfect Record

For 10 uncomfortable minutes Fabio Capello seemed as confounded as so many England managers before him. He continued to be different, all the same, because there was a reply to the equalizer from the substitute Andriy Shevchenko. After 85 minutes, David Beckham, on for Aaron Lennon, piloted a free-kick from the left and Steven Gerrard's downward header was knocked into the net by the captain, John Terry, for the winner.

This felt, to begin with, like the first authentic challenge Capello's England had experienced at Wembley. In its way that was invigorating for a side that must have been unmoved by most of the games here. When they did take the lead through Peter Crouch there was a tone of achievement, even if the breakthrough came in an unexpectedly simple manner.

With 29 minutes gone, Frank Lampard sent over a deep corner from the left, John Terry headed down and Crouch, in his first start under Capello, volleyed into the net. The match itself had not been so element­ary. There was abrasiveness, with cautions rapidly issued to Gareth Barry and then Taras Mykhalyk. While the captain, Terry, had intended no harm when he bloodied Andriy Voronin's nose with a swinging arm it was an incident that seemed to belong here.

While Capello's men had territorial domination, the opposition were not cowed before the interval. Recent history implied that England and Ukraine had been invented to cancel one another out. Each had been knocked out in the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup before failing to qualify for Euro 2008. Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko, however, is a novice by comparison with Capello.

There were weaknesses here and not merely when Crouch broke the deadlock. In particular, Wayne Rooney was in no mood to be contained by the holding midfielder, the captain Anatoliy Tymoshchuk, or anyone else. The Manchester United attacker completed a long one-two with Lennon ten minutes before the interval, but then hit a poorly directed drive. By that stage, Ukraine had seen signs of hope all the same.

Barry, with that yellow card to his name, seemed to bring down Aretem Milevsky at a free-kick, but there were no passionate appeals for a penalty. The occas­ional uncomfortable incident cropped up for England, as when an attempt by Tymoshchuk cannoned off David James's chest.

If the Ukrainian manager did carry an advantage to Wembley it lay in the fact that his squad was nearer to full strength than England's, who had lost three strikers to injury. Some would still reply that this is of scant help when the worth of some players is under scrutiny. It could be argued, for instance, that Voronin arrived with something to prove, but that is also a euphemistic way of saying he had fared badly in this country with Liverpool.

Shevchenko might have kicked off in a similar state of mind to the Hertha Berlin attacker, but he is in such decline that he was named as a mere substitute. Some have argued for such a step by Myk­haylychenko since it would prove that this is his era, in which he will not be bound by the policies of his predecessors. His opposite number, to no one's surprise, showed again that he will make severe decisions.

Matthew Upson was not even on the bench after suffering a lapse or two in last Saturday's friendly with Slovakia. Stewart Downing, who had floundered after coming on in that game, learned there would be no seat for him in the dug-out here.

Rooney never seems to take his own place for granted, although that also reflects the natural hunger he has for the ball at all times. Capello had suggested that the player must be in a role where he gets the regular involvement in the action which his nature craves. Sometimes it can seem silly and after using energy to run sideways past a few opponents in the 49th minute he was still in no position to do anything more than put a low attempt wide.

If there was plenty of life left in Rooney the match became somewhat calmer. That was of no assistance to Ukraine and Mykhaylychenko reacted to a vapid showing from Voronin by replacing him with Shevchenko. England, holding the lead, had no need to search for verve and the alteration from Capello was the anticipated introduction of Beckham for Lennon. Judging by the acclaim, the 33-year-old collecting his 11 0th cap is turning into a grand old man.

A free-kick seemed within his range after 64 minutes, but it dipped a little late and cleared the crossbar. There were few signs that England were on the verge of putting the match beyond the visitors' reach. That fostered some belief in the visitors ranks. When an Ashley Cole error allowed them to launch an attack from their right it soon deteriorated into inconsequentiality, but tone was shifting.

This had turned into a staid affair and therein lay the danger for fading England. With 75 minutes gone, a free-kick from the right broke to Shevchenko who fired past James. Life had become trying and complex for Capello and his team.