England player ratings vs Ukraine: Marc Guehi and Jordan Henderson justify selection with solid displays

Euro 2024 Qualifier - Group C - Ukraine v England
Action Images via Reuters
Dom Smith9 September 2023

England were unable to extend their lead at the top of their Euro 2024 qualification group as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Ukraine.

The match, played in Wroclaw, Poland, due to the war in Ukraine, was England’s for the taking — and Gareth Southgate’s side had the better chances.

Yet it was Ukraine who took a surprise lead in the first half when Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko coolly slotted home from Yukhym Konoplya’s pull-back.

England were level before the break when Kyle Walker scored his long-awaited first international goal, in his 77th cap, from Harry Kane’s inch-perfect hoicked pass. Southgate’s side remain comfortably top of Group C by six points, but their 100 per cent win rate was lost as Ukraine held on for a valuable point.

Dom Smith was witnessing the action and rated the England performances…

Jordan Pickford — 6

Out of his goal quickly to ensure Mykhailo Mudryk couldn’t tear away one-on-one in the first half. Had little else to do.

Kyle Walker — 8

Got into the box and equalised before half-time, scoring his long overdue maiden England goal. Was visibly delighted with it.

Played well in Wroclaw, mopping up any danger well and never panicking on the ball.

Harry Maguire — 6

Did his job at the back and headed into Heorhiy Buschan’s grasp from a late corner as England went searching for a winner in the second half. Harshly booked late on.

Ben Chilwell — 7

Helped to track back and was a threat down the left flank. A valuable chance to impress Southgate, who prefers the injured Luke Shaw when fit.

Declan Rice — 6

One of his quieter games but rotated play well and brought his teammates into play. Rarely puts a foot wrong for club or country.

A workmanlike shift from the industrious No8, despite all the noise that has surrounded his controversial selection for this squad.

Jude Bellingham — 6

Popped up in plenty of useful areas of the pitch in a busy performance before being replaced after 65 minutes.

Getty Images

Bukayo Saka — 7

England’s liveliest attacker. Desperately unlucky not to score when Bushchan tipped his second-half dipper against the crossbar and away.

Harry Kane — 7

His assist for Walker’s equaliser was a stunning long pass, indicative of his magnificent passing range. Had very few chances to fire at goal himself.

James Maddison — 7

Dropped into the pocket and carried the ball excellently for England. Booked in the first half for a lazy and late slide tackle on Bournemouth’s Illya Zabarnyi.

Substitutes:

Marcus Rashford (Maddison, 65’) — 7

Made an impact off the bench, beating players and moving the ball more quickly on the left than can sometimes be said of him.

Phil Foden (Bellingham, 65’) — 6

Struggled to get into the game despite playing the final 25 minutes.

Conor Gallagher (Saka, 86’) — N/A

Subs not used: Trippier, Johnstone, Colwill, Tomori, Phillips, Dunk, Eze, Ramsdale, Wilson

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in