ROY HODGSON marched to the referee’s room at the final whistle last night to complain about England’s disallowed goal.
By CHARLIE WYETT
Frank Lampard’s 87th-minute penalty rescued a point for the Three Lions.
But frustrated boss Hodgson demanded an answer from Turkish official Cuneyt Cakir after he ruled out a fine effort from Jermain Defoe.
The Tottenham striker was penalised for a foul moments before his 20-yard strike on nine minutes.
Defoe shrugged off Andriy Yarmolenko with a hand on his chest but the Ukrainian went down clutching his FACE.
And the referee — who also sent off Steven Gerrard for two bookings — bought it.
England chief Hodgson said: “It was disallowed for a foul but we didn’t see it on the bench.
“I thought all the yellow cards were very harsh. I don’t think there were a lot of bad fouls — or fouls full stop.
“Gerrard is extremely unlucky to be sent off. The two fouls he was adjudged to have committed were not worthy of them.”
Defoe was also furious when he realised his celebrations had been cut short.
He said: “When the referee ruled out my goal, I just wanted to cry.
“I don’t understand why it was disallowed. I used my arms a little bit to get away from the player but I don’t think it was a foul. I’m very disappointed.”
Skipper Gerrard was sent off for a second yellow after 88 minutes while four others were booked.
But most Ukraine supporters would have little sympathy for England.
They lost 1-0 to Hodgson’s men at Euro 2012 but a Marko Devic effort was over the line and no goal was given.
The visitors took the lead through Yevgeni Konoplianka’s 25-yard strike on 33 minutes last night.
But Lampard once again kept his cool from the penalty spot, after scoring from 12 yards in Moldova. The game-saving penalty at Wembley came after sub Danny Welbeck burst through and Yevhen Khacheridi handled.
But Lampard insists it would have been a different game had Defoe’s effort been allowed.
He said: “No one knows why it was disallowed. I thought he pulled it back too early and was giving a free-kick for us.
“When you get the other side of a player, you normally use your arms and elbows.
“It wasn’t a foul at all, so we were very disappointed.”
England beat Moldova 5-0 in their opening Group H match but this was an average performance.
Hodgson insisted the display was than the one which saw England beat Ukraine in their final group game of the summer’s Euros.
The manager said: “I’d be rather surprised if people thought that this would be an easy group.
“You can’t allow the result to cloud your judgment of the performance.
“We asked more questions of them tonight and had we lost, it would have been harsh — as it was for them to lose the game in Ukraine.
“Their post was made to work a few times. There were quite a few balls across the penalty area.”
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, 19, and Tom Cleverley, 23, impressed in Chisinau on Friday but had less time and space against a better side last night.
Lampard, 34, added: “I don’t think you can pin the result on inexperience. It’s a long group, these games are not easy — getting a point was a good result considering we were 1-0 down with 10 minutes to go.
“It is nerve-racking to take a penalty so near to the end of game after you have fought so hard.
“After you take one a few days before, you know their keeper has watched you take them, so I was pleased to see it go in.”
There is no doubt that England have been hit badly by injuries with a string of key players missing last night.
Gerrard will now miss the next match against San Marino following his sending off while Glen Johnson will also be banned after picking up a second caution in Group H.
England’s skipper said: “You’ve got to give them credit. They are a fantastic team and it’s going to be between us two who tops this group.
“We’ll probably have a better chance of beating them away, as they will have to take more risks.”
Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin said: “I couldn’t imagine a better start for us because we played our first game, here at Wembley.
“We created problems for England, particularly in the first half, that they could not solve. For us it’s a very big, positive result.”
