Wayne Rooney had nodded England into the lead with a second-half header but Ukraine were desperately unlucky not to have equalised after Marko Devic's 62nd minute effort was wrongly adjuged not to have crossed the line.

Gerrard, who will now lead his side into a quarter-final against Italy on Sunday, remained unmoved by the controversy however noting that England had been on the receiving end of a similar error when Frank Lampard's strike against Germany at the 2010 World Cup was disallowed.