England and France played out a drab 1-1 draw here in Donetsk, as both teams shared the spoils in a game where both sides were seemingly in no rush to score goals. With the tie, France's unbeaten run in all competitions continues to 22 games; their last loss was against Belarus in qualifying. France has since won 15 games and drawn seven.

While there were no shock inclusions in Laurent Blanc's squad besides the slightly surprising pick of Phillipe Mexes over Laurent Koscielny, eyebrows were raised as it was revealed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, England's 18-year old wunderkind, was included in the starting 11 over Stewart Downing on the left. England played a 4-5-1 with Danny Welbeck up front, James Milner on the right and Steven Gerrard, Scott Parker and Ashley Young making up the middle.

The game started out very slowly, with a few moments of interest as Oxlade-Chamberlain used his blistering pace to keep the French defenders on their toes. Mathieu Debuchy, the 26-year old Lille player who earned his seventh cap for France today, started in the right-back position filling in for Arsenal's Bacary Sagna who is out with an injury - and was forced to remain alert to keep Oxlade-Chamberlain's pace in check.

The opening stages remained slow, but France looked the more lively of the two sides, with Frank Ribery, Samir Nasri, Karim Benzema and Yohan Cabaye all looking dangerous near the England penalty area. England defended resolutely as expected though, as Roy Hodgson's tactical approach allowed for seven to nine players to play behind the ball, making things very difficult for the French.

England's first chance came from Milner, as a dangerous pass played through to him by Ashley Young saw him beating the keeper in the 15th minute, only to see his shot dragged wide of goal. Milner's diagonal run and more importantly, heavy touch to beat Hugo Lloris left him with little space to take a shot with his preferred leg, and England was left wondering if it was going to rue having missed its first concrete shot at goal.

And for a while, it seemed like England was going to regret it as France continued to pile on the pressure, with Debuchy in particular getting himself involved on multiple occasions, crossing the ball dangerously only to be denied by the organized English defense.

But it was the English who took the lead around the 30-minute mark, as Joleon Lescott broke away from his marker to powerfully head a well-placed Steven Gerrard free kick into the back of the net. Lloris could do little as his defenders were at fault for letting Lescott drift incredibly close to goal and eventually allowing him to give England the lead in the first half.

England's lead however, was cut short soon after, as nine minutes later, Nasri converted on a powerful shot from outside the box on the left to the near post, beating his Manchester City teammate, Joe Hart, to level the game at 1-1.

Cabaye had a few long shots on target that were pushed away for corners, and the first half ended rather unspectacularly, as England continued to defend resolutely even after letting France equalize.

With the weather playing spoilsport as temperatures rose to around 32C (~90F) in Ukraine, the game continued to be a slow encounter as neither side looked to push too many players up front. England continued to defend strongly, allowing France to get forward regularly as the English sat back and soaked up the pressure.

England had their chances in the second half, as well, as Gerrard made a run near the box only to theatrically fall down, as the referee refused to be fooled and let play continue. Milner and Glen Johnson crossed the ball in a couple of times, but France defended strongly in the few situations they needed to in the second half.

Benzema and Ribery continued to be a nuisance for England's defenders, making dangerous runs and retaining possession up front for the French, but those chances would be squandered as England kept their defenders and most of their midfielders behind the ball at all times to ensure that France would struggle to break down its defense.

Cabaye and Benzema had a couple of long-range shots cleared out for corners, but nothing was to come of France's repeated attempts on goal, as both sides had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

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Editorializing

It was not surprising to see England defending resolutely considering the tactic is something Roy Hodgson is known for. Conversely, when attacked, France looked incredibly vulnerable at the back and it was disappointing for many fans to see that England did not give it a good shot considering they would've had many concrete chances on goal if they had decided to play a little more positively.

France, on the other hand, looked lively and came forward with confidence that has clearly built up over this 22-game unbeaten run - Debuchy in particular had a great game for a player who just earned his seventh cap solely because he had to fill in for another player. However, the French struggled to break down England's frustrating yet resolute defending, and this could for a number of reasons. 

Most importantly, in Yohann Gourcuff, the Lyon midfielder axed from the French national squad just before the Euros, the French had a great player who could play through the perfect pass to some of France's most dangerous players, and his presence was clearly lacking as the French ran out of ideas on more than one occasion, shooting from far out when they had no other alternatives.

This could come back to bite them later on in the tournament, and Laurent Blanc must sort this out as many teams may come out and play France in a similar fashion knowing that it is a strong team, fully capable of scoring goals if not dealt with in an appropriate manner.

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