Petrov double pegs back England

Two goals from captain Kyrylo Petrov earned Ukraine a crucial draw against England in the second round of matches in UEFA European Under-19 Championship Group A.

Thrilling encounter
With both sides held in their opening fixtures, the hosts made an ideal start in Donetsk, Petrov rounding off an incisive move within two minutes. Henri Lansbury equalised from the penalty spot midway through the first period before Daniel Gosling shot England into a 51st-minute lead. However, Petrov's second of the night levelled proceedings ten minutes later and, urged on by another sizeable crowd, Ukraine pressed hard for a winning goal, Dmytro Korkishko passing up a glorious late chance. Their prospects are therefore in the balance ahead of their final game against Switzerland on Monday, when Slovenia are England's opponents.

Perfect start
Several of the home fans were still settling into their seats when the hosts took the lead. Korkishko was the architect of the move, bursting into the penalty area and playing the ball back for a deft lay-off by Sergii Shevchuk into the path of Petrov, who calmly placed a low shot beyond the outstretched hand of Jason Steele. While that goal settled Ukrainian nerves, England were showing plenty of uncertainty in defence and only Steele prevented them from falling further behind, the captain denying Korkishko after good build-up play from Denys Garmash.

England fightback
England were struggling to create in attack and needed more than a little assistance to draw level with 25 minutes gone. Ukraine goalkeeper Igor Levchenko miscontrolled a back-pass, allowing Danny Welbeck to steal in, and in attempting to retrieve his error succeeded only in felling the Manchester United FC striker. Lansbury dispatched the penalty into the bottom corner of the net to prompt a spell of England superiority and, six minutes into the second half, Levchenko was beaten again. On this occasion, however, the goalkeeper could count himself unfortunate as Danny Drinkwater's long-range free-kick was blocked but broke perfectly for Gosling to turn and shoot England into the lead despite heavy pressure from Temur Partsvaniya.

Petrov reply
Dmytro Kushnirov then had to clear off the line after a corner had found its way to Lansbury's feet, an intervention which proved crucial because within moments Petrov met Bohdan Butko's curling right-wing cross with a powerful downward header to level the contest again. With the home crowd finding their voices again, Denys Garmash flashed a shot just wide before Steele denied Serhiy Rybalka and Petrov. Substitute Vitaliy Kaverin then prodded into the sidenetting before Korkishko outstripped the defence in the 89th minute only to shoot wide with just Steele to beat.