As it happened: England 1-1 France

FULL-TIME: England and France have drawn 1-1 in what has been a pretty good contest. Probably the French will be disappointed with the lack of final balls, relying on long range strikes to threaten Hart. For England though, they will be proud of a defensive performance which could have done much worse than today. Ukraine and Sweden, who play later, will have an extra incentive to win and get three points in the bag. 86 minutes: England are walking a tight rope. Benzema has come close again as he picked his spot to curl one in before Gerrard rose to divert it off target. Hatem Ben Arfa and Marvin Martin have come on for France. Malouda and Cabaye are off. 77 minutes: Jermaine Defoe has come on for Chamberlain and Jordan Henderson for Parker. Could this change the game? 70 minutes: Surely England and France both need a substitute to brighten it up in Donetsk. Welbeck broke for England and the ball finally fell to Oxlade-Chamberlain who could not find a way past four French defenders. 62 minutes: England look very well organised and maybe Roy Hodgson has done better than what everyone thought. They have had a flurry of corners but nothing comes off them. Quite some noise on Twitter about bringing on Theo Walcott to inject some pace. @HelloMrPerera on Twitter: Time to bring in Theo (Walcott) 52 minutes: It’s been a slower start compared to what we saw in the first half, but France have looked more threatening. The English defence almost gave away the ball to Ribery in their own box, but Hart was aware of the danger. The tackles are getting tougher and the football more nervous than assured. Back up and running at Donetsk. HALF-TIME: France have brilliantly responded to England’s opener. In their last Euro encounter, England had gone ahead with a header, only to be pulled back by two Zinedine Zidane goals to eventually lose. With France menacing every time they pour forward… will history be repeated? Stick with us to know. GOAL!!! ENGLAND 1-1 FRANCE (39 minutes) Nasri has threatened since the start and he is in his favourite area—just outside the box. This time the shot takes a bit of a deflection from an England defender before finding the net. France are back in this one. [caption id=“attachment_339986” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Gerrard’s freekick set up England’s goal. AFP”] [/caption] 35 minutes: What a save!! Joe Hart is in the way of a smashing Diarra header but the Manchester City man somehow keeps it out… the follow up is also sent his way but England somehow manage to clear their lines. GOAL!!! ENGLAND 1-0 FRANCE (30 minutes) Gerrard takes a free-kick from the right side of the pitch and Lescott flies in to fire a an unstoppable header!! England are in the lead… game on! 26 minutes: Both teams have played contrasting styles of football. While the French are relying on their slippery attackers turning and spinning out of midfield into attack, England look very organised and dangerous on the counter. 17 minutes: Young slips in a clever ball for Milner who rounds the keeper but cannot get his shot on target. Best chance of the match so far. On the other end, Cabaye’s curling take is well saved by Hart. 11 minutes: France have started dominating the proceedings. First Ribery finds a lot of space on the left but tries to go on his own rather than cut it back. That attack fizzles out there but then Nasri cuts in and takes a shot… the ball only gets to the side-netting to the relief of England’s fans. 6 minutes: First scare for England as Benzema reaches out for a clever dink into the box before the English defenders crowded him out. Chamberlain also showing some spark, breaking on the left and trying to lay up Welbeck… but his pass was cut-out. KICK-OFF! 9.25 pm: The players are out… England will sing ‘God Save the Queen’ as the French hum out La Marseillaise. 9.20 pm: The English fans are already beating the drums. The French look supremely confident in training while Chamberlain looks like he should be at an exam in school. 9.05 PM: France are on a 21-match unbeaten run and have come a long way since the World Cup debacle in South Africa. An iron handed approach from Laurent Blanc has certainly worked. [caption id=“attachment_339928” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“England are underdogs for this one. AFP”] [/caption] 9.00 PM: The whispers about Oxlade-Chamberlain being included in the playing eleven had started quite some time before kick-off and they are actually true. The Arsenal man has been picked on the left side of the pitch, beating off competition mainly from Theo Walcott and Stewart Downing. FRANCE: Hugo Lloris, Mathieu Debuchy, Adil Rami, Philippe Mexes, Patrice Evra, Samir Nasri, Yohan Cabaye, Alou Diarra, Florent Malouda, Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema. ENGLAND: Joe Hart, Glen Johnson, John Terry, Joleon Lescott, Ashley Cole, James Milner, Steven Gerrard, Scott Parker, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ashley Young, Danny Welbeck.