England kept their winning march of five matches, 15 points and firmly perched on top of Group Six after dispatching Ukraine at Wembley with a late John Terry winner. It was a just score as England dominated proceedings, although at times they were painfully predictable, especially in the first half with almost every attempt to go forward resulting in a cross towards Peter Crouch.

Aaron Lennon managed only a lacklustre performance, as he was successfully neutralised by the Ukrainian defence and his contributions were minimal.

For the second time, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney displayed a lethal partnership up front in attack – their powerful and aggressive styles were synchronised and their efforts constantly dangerous.

Ukraine stood firm, however, and played well. They absorbed the pressure and dealt successfully with Lennon' surges. For most of the first half, Ukraine were on the defensive, but never panicked, and apart from Peter Crouch's goal in the 28th minute, they showed little sign of worry and did not need to – England were simply too predictable.

In the second half, England failed to bring spice into their game, apart from individual aggressive efforts from Rooney. There was no real tactical reshuffling and although Ukraine remained on the defensive, England simply had no imagination about what to do when they had the ball in their possession.

Shevchenko, the ex-Chelsea front man, then stepped on the pitch. His career has been in tatters recently, being a substitute in his own club, but he was determined to make an impact at Wmebley and he did. Not that he had a particularly good game either – he did not. But he was subtle, got one opportunity and slotted it past David James.

And once again, James reaffirmed himself as the worst keeper to wear the national shirt. The ball went between his hands, he was clumsy and slow to respond, completely inadequate, but he was quick to attack his defenders as if it was their fault.

And, with time running out, captain Terry came to the rescue when he scored from six yards, after Gerrard had nodded a Beckham set-piece across the area.

Not England at their best  - but the disappointment at the overall performance will be eased with one look at a qualifying table that shows five wins out of five.

After the match, England coach Capello told the Daily Mail: "I’m happy for John Terry, that’s why he’s the captain because he’s an important player. He is a strong character and this is important. But I’m happy for the team because this was a very tough game.

"We prepared this and I spoke with the players before the game, and we said that the Ukraine players would be fresher than us. In the second half, we suffered because of that.

"I’m very happy with the character of the team, the application of the players during the game, particularly in the second half," Capello said.

"The character, the positioning on the field. We didn’t make mistakes too easily. I’m very happy, because five victories and 15 points are important. Now we have two months before the next games and I hope, in June, the players will be more brilliant, more fresh, than now," he said.