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Gareth Southgate focused on England’s important point and a valuable learning experience after admitting his side did not “quite click” in attack in the Euro 2024 qualifying draw against Ukraine. Having won their first four Group C matches on the road to next summer’s tournament in Germany, Saturday saw them fail to win a European Championship qualifier for just the second time in 23 attempts. Ukraine, playing on the road due to the ongoing Russian invasion in their homeland, took the lead through skipper Oleksandr Zinchenko to the delight of the partisan crowd in Wroclaw, Poland. England levelled before half-time through Kyle Walker’s first international goal on his 77th appearance for the national team, but Southgate’s side could not find a winner as they struggled for attacking fluidity and a cutting edge. “The reality is we’re not going to win every game by fours and sevens as we’ve done in this qualifying campaign,” the England boss said after Saturday’s 1-1 draw. “That was a really good test – away from home, very passionate atmosphere, quite a few changes forced from the last game. “For people like Marc Guehi, for instance, his first experience of the game like that with England, which he came through really strongly. “So, sometimes, especially with attacking play, it doesn’t quite click. We know that the patterns that we worked during the week are what we always do, so it’s not that we approach the game in a different way. “We tried to refresh things to give them a different sort of problem but today our forward play bar the goal and probably Bukayo’s effort that hit the bar wasn’t at the level that it has been in our previous games.” The Bukayo Saka attempt that was tipped onto the bar by Ukraine goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan was the closest England came to a winner on a night where they were often passive in possession and toothless in attack. “I think what I liked was the control of the game that we had when you come into an intense atmosphere like there was,” Southgate said in the bowels of the Tarczynski Arena. “I thought we played with real composure up until the final third and then I think by the time we scored the goal we’d had over 70 per cent of the ball but that was our first attempt on target. “So clearly, most of our attacking play wasn’t at the level that we would have hoped it to be. But I thought given the circumstances and the importance of the point in terms of qualification and coming from behind when the crowd are full and the opposition have something to hang on to. We tried to refresh things to give them a different sort of problem but today our forward play bar the goal and probably Bukayo’s effort that hit the bar wasn't at the level that it has been in our previous games Gareth Southgate “It’s a very important point for us and we’ve now played the two best ranked teams away from home and we’ve got four points from those two games.” Despite the frustrating draw, it still remains a case of when rather than if England qualify for the Euros. Southgate’s men now turn their attention to their friendly away to old foes Scotland on Tuesday, when Ukraine travel to Italy for a key clash in the fight for qualification. Ukraine head coach Sergey Rebrov said: “The atmosphere was really great – simply amazing. A big thank you to our fans. I thanked my players for their performance, especially in defence. “It is very difficult to stop such good attacking players as England have, but we did it on many occasions. This is a satisfactory result – another step towards reaching the finals.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Talking points ahead of Republic of Ireland’s crucial clash with Netherlands Fit, healthy and firing – Andy Farrell hails Johnny Sexton’s Ireland comeback George North still loving ‘wicked’ World Cup life on eve of fourth tournament

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England hit a rare bump on the road to next year’s European Championship as Kyle Walker’s first international goal secured Gareth Southgate’s side a 1-1 draw against Ukraine in Poland. Having opened Group C with four wins from as many matches, it has long looked a case of when rather than if the Euro 2020 runners-up seal their place at next summer’s tournament in Germany. England had won 21 of their previous 22 Euros qualifiers but had to make do with a point on Saturday evening having failed to build on Walker brilliantly cancelling out Oleksandr Zinchenko’s opener. Ukraine were vastly improved from their meek March loss at Wembley and, despite being forced to play away from home due to the ongoing Russian invasion, received fantastic support in Wroclaw. Skipper Zinchenko sparked ear-splitting celebrations when opening the scoring at the Tarczynski Arena, where world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk beat Daniel Dubois a fortnight ago. But this time there was no Ukrainian knockout blow against English opposition. Harry Kane’s exceptional pass was met by a similarly impressive Walker touch, before the right-back coolly slotted home to open his international account on his 77th appearance. The 33-year-old became the second-oldest player to score his maiden England goal after ending the longest wait for an outfield player to net their first for the country. Bukayo Saka saw an effort tipped onto the bar as England pushed for a winner that evaded them. As many as 300,000 Ukrainians are said to live in this region of Poland and there was a spine-tingling rendition of their national anthem by the wall of yellow and blue in the ground. The atmosphere was wonderful but England looked unruffled by the partisan support, patiently probing as they sought to land an early blow. But it soon became clear that their domination was passive and Ukraine appeared emboldened by their fans’ raucous backing whenever they got forward. After a few moves broke down, their captain turned the volume up to the max in the 26th minute. Georgiy Sudakov collected Walker’s looping header in his own half and drove inside and away from the attention of Saka, before playing wide to Viktor Tsygankov on the right. The winger held up the ball under pressure before playing onto overlapping Yukhym Konoplya, whose cut back was driven home from eight yards by Arsenal midfielder Zinchenko. It was a perfectly executed counter-attack and Ukraine’s celebrations were deafening. England had been caught cold and Jordan Henderson – picked for the first time since his controversial move to Saudi Arabia – blazed over as they looked to hit back, with frustrated James Maddison booked for a poor challenge. Lacking creativity and a cutting edge, Kane dropped deep and took it upon himself to spark England into life. Ukraine stood off the striker and watched him fire an exceptional diagonal ball from just outside the centre circle over Everton left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko to Walker. An expert first touch was followed by impressive composure and a smart finish from close range. The England team charged towards Walker to celebrate – an effort cleared after a VAR review for offside. Under-fire Harry Maguire, making his first competitive start of the season, headed over when play resumed and goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan pushed away a threatening Henderson cross. The Group C leaders were pushing to take the lead and Ukraine’s goalkeeper made a fantastic save in the 59th minute. Kane played onto Saka and the Arsenal forward cut inside to unleash a left-footed strike from the edge of the box that Bushchan touched onto the bar. Saka and team-mates soon saw appeals for handball in the box fall on deaf ears as Southgate’s men continued in the ascendancy. Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden were soon introduced to add punch to their game, with Maguire having another headed attempt before being booked when attempting to prod in. England looked most likely to score as the clock wound down but there was to be no winner. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Talking points ahead of Republic of Ireland’s crucial clash with Netherlands Fit, healthy and firing – Andy Farrell hails Johnny Sexton’s Ireland comeback Daniil Medvedev knows he will need to produce perfect performance to win US Open

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