Sweden 2 England 3

Prior to tonight's encounter in Kiev, I had frankly expected a rather turgid, attritional contest.  Sure enough, the first half was on the mediocre side, although not perhaps to the extent described by some pundits.  After the break, however, there was certainly no lack of incident, and although some of this was attributable to poor defending and luck, there were a few moments of genuine quality.

In the early minutes of the game I thought that England looked quite purposeful, busy and eager, if lacking a little in invention. James Milner was proving to be an effective outlet at that early stage. Predictably Zlatan Ibrahimovic constituted the main threat for Sweden, the doubts about his fitness notwithstanding.

Roy Hodgson's decision to play Andy Carroll from the start was vindicated when he rose majestically to meet a trademark Steven Gerrard delivery. As is often the case, however, one of England's main failings was a failure to retain possession sufficiently well, and Sweden continued to pose questions for the remainder of the first period.

I did not find the first forty-five minutes quite as woeful as some other people seem to have done.  Perhaps I find honest mediocrity strangely fascinating!

There was a noticeable upsurge in the vigour and intensity of Sweden's play right from the outset of the second half.  Maybe their coach had emphasised to them the extent of their predicament should they lose this game?  Whatever the case, the new approach soon bore fruit in the form of an equaliser, albeit a fortuitous and flukey one.

After the first Swedish goal went in, I thought to myself that England now faced a real test, and that they may be forced to show more tactical flexibility in order to respond.  Before they had a chance to demonstrate any of this, they were further pinned back by Swedish pressure, and the defence was found wanting as Mellberg rose largely unchallenged to make it 2-1.

The match now acquired a genuine sense of ebb-and-flow as England strove to get back on terms, with Sweden potentially dangerous on the break, even if they do not exactly possess blistering outright pace in their team.

England made a positive substitution, bringing on Theo Walcott for the fading Milner. Roy Hodgson must have sensed that England did not previously have enough in their armoury to get back into the match, but even he could hardly have anticipated the impact that the Arsenal player would make.  He had scarcely touched the ball before thumping in the equalising goal.

Strangely enough, I had been making notes to the effect that I found Danny Welbeck's performance unconvincing, when he and Walcott conjured up a moment of genuine quality to clinch victory for England. Welbeck's improvisation was most impressive.

Late on I became nervous, thinking that England were throwing too many men forward at times, but they held on reasonably comfortably.

So where does this all leave us?  Well, England need a point against Ukraine, and that is eminently achievable.  The coach does face a selection dilemma of sorts, with Wayne Rooney now available for selection after suspension, and both Welbeck and Carroll making their cases quite eloquently this evening.  Roy Hodgson has displayed a methodical, pragmatic streak during their tournament so far, and he may opt for the "horses for courses" approach again.

In the grand scheme of things, England have exuded a sense of unity and quiet determination thus far. These qualities, however laudable, will only take England so far. The fluidity and cohesion exhibited by Spain, Germany and even France in the past couple of days was sobering to see.  England look likely to face Spain, should they reach the quarter-finals.  Before that daunting prospect, however, they will need to rouse themselves once more for what is sure to be a pressurised match against the co-hosts.