England, France fight to 1-1 draw

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) ― England held on for a 1-1 draw with France on Monday at the European Championship, giving the Group D favorites one point each.

Joleon Lescott put England in the lead with a header in the 30th minute, and Samir Nasri leveled for France shortly before halftime with a strike into the bottom corner of the net.

France still has not won a match at a major tournament since the 2006 World Cup. The national team, however, is unbeaten in its last 22 matches.

“I think we have to be happy with that,” France coach Laurent Blanc said. “We were too timid at the start, there was a bit of pressure that got to us, and then we got better actually after we conceded the goal ― that’s when we started playing.”

England took the lead when captain Steven Gerrard curled in a free kick from the right after Patrice Evra fouled James Milner. Lescott sneaked behind a defender and was able to nod the ball past France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. It was England’s only on-target shot.

France’s equalizer was all about one-touch football. Florent Malouda, Evra and Franck Ribery flicked the ball around the left side of England’s penalty area to free up space for Nasri, who put in a low shot before England goalkeeper Joe Hart could react.

After running away in celebration, television replays showed Nasri shouting “Shut your mouth,” in French as he looked in the direction of the England bench. He then brought his finger to his lips as if to tell someone to hush.

In the final seconds of the match, Hart pushed away Karim Benzema’s goal-bound shot. Moments before, the Real Madrid forward’s curling effort was heading for the top corner until it was headed clear. Yohan Cabaye’s controlled shot in the 80th minute also beat Hart but was deflected away just before it reached the bottom corner.

“We’ll look at our performance and analyze what we’ve done right and what we’ve done wrong,” Gerrard said. “I think all in all we’re satisfied with a point.”

Ukraine 2, Sweden 1

KIEV (AP) ― Andriy Shevchenko made his coach look brilliant, scoring two great headers Monday to give Ukraine a 2-1 win over Sweden at the European Championship.

After Zlatan Ibrahimovic had given Sweden the lead in the 52nd minute, Shevchenko responded by heading in the equalizer just three minutes later and then added the winner in the 61st.

The victory gives Ukraine a serious chance of advancing from Group D after England and France drew 1-1, while Sweden faces an uphill battle to remain in the tournament.

“We showed today our character, our good football,” Shevchenko said. “We have very good chances to qualify.”

Shevchenko is already a national icon in Ukraine and carried the hopes of the team going into the tournament. In front of sea of yellow and blue in the packed Olympic Stadium, he certainly didn’t disappoint. He rewarded the faith coach Oleg Blokhin showed in the veteran who was not a certain starter for the tournament.

Showing flashes of the scorer’s instinct that once made him one of the world’s top strikers, Shevchenko beat Olof Mellberg to a cross for his first goal and then met a corner to head the ball inside the near post for the second.