EURO 2012 LIVE: Ukraine v France - all the action live from Donetsk as it happened

 7.51pm: A final reminder that you can read the live action from England's clash with Sweden here. Great tournament so far, hopefully the Three Lions can add to it. That's all from me for tonight.

7.46pm: All in all the game as a whole was a mixed bag. There was plenty on display to enjoy, with two decent goals and some frantic football.

Menez will surely start against Sweden - as I mentioned after four minutes of the game had expired, he had already done more in the tournament than the man he replaced - Malouda.

Ukraine will be disappointed they were not able to make the most of the chances they did have.

FULL-TIME

90mins: Three minutes of added time.

86mins: Tymoschuk fouls Martin on the left side of the Ukraine box. Deserved yellow card. Nasri fires it in at goal, but Pyatov is concentrating and pushes it wide.

84mins: Aliyev curls in a free-kick from out wide, far better than his earlier effort, but Lloris punches it to safety.

83mins: M'Vila lashes a strike over from 30 yards out. Poor effort.

81mins: Such a disappointment. Aliyev hits it into the stands. The country of Ukraine sighs. 

80mins: Foul on the edge of the box by Mexex. Takes out Aliyev and now it's a big chance with the free-kick.

79mins: France passing the ball around - but when they lost it, Debuchy picked up a booking for a foul. Could hurt them later in the tournament if he gets another.

75mins: Olivier Giroud on for Benzema. Still no goals for Jose Mourinho's man. But lots for Gunners fans to see here, as Giroud is on his way to the Emirates next season.

74mins: Marvin Martin comes on for deadlock-breaker Menez.

Net gains: Cabaye tucks home the second goal for Les Bleus

71mins: Ribery caught between two Ukraine defenders about 25 yards out. Ref awards a free-kick... which he smashes a yard wide of the top right corner.

67mins: Cabaye's going off for Arsenal target Yann M'Vila. The post, which he rattled so powerfully a couple of minutes ago, is reportedly pleased to see him leave. Cabaye's strike was his first international goal.

Yarmolenko was taken off for Olexandr Aliyev at the same time.

65mins: Cabaye blasts a shot against the post from outside the box. It came after a long period of possession for the French.

Ukraine broke away - they haven't given up yet - but Devic was denied.

61mins: If France go on to win this game - which now looks likely - then they will top the group with four points. Ukraine will be on three in second, but England can leapfrog them with a win over Sweden.

My colleague James Andrew will be writing the live text for that match, which will kick off soon after this one finishes, at 8pm. You can find it here.

59mins: A second change for Ukraine as Artem Milevsky enters the fray for Nazarenko.

GOAL Ukraine 0-2 France (Cabaye)

Stunning pass by Benezma into Newcastle's Yohan Cabaye after 55mins He's been OK so far - nothing special - but tucked that away nicely.

Benzema had the ball in a central position and hit a low pass which split the defence and Cabaye carefully hit a low finish past Pyatov. 

Doubled the lead: Cabaye celebrates his first international goal

Makes it count: Menez finally converted one of his chances

54mins If France end up winning through that Menez goal, people will say he was man of the match. He's certainly been the most involved player, but what a difference a goal makes.

GOAL Ukraine 0-1 France (Menez)

After 52mins Menez find the net! An excellent breakaway sees Ribery find Benzema who switches it one more to the right and Menez. He cuts inside and onto his left foot, before firing a low drive inside Pyatov's left-hand post. Good finish.

Opener: Menez fires past Pyatov at the near post

Delight: France moved to the top of the group with this goal

50mins: Devic slips in Shevchenko but Rami dispossesses him superbly.

49mins: Ukraine break away AGAIN but the ball is blazed over. The second half has been end-to-end stuff.

49mins: Nasri takes a corner and has a laser pen shone in his face. We know he's a bit annoying but there's no need for that.

48mins: Ukraine break away and Shevchenko smashes a stunning effort fractionally wide of the join between post and crossbar.

48mins: Menez is through on the left and he holds of Selin before firing at Pyatov. Another great chance.

KICK OFF III: We're back underway for the second-half. Half-time swap sees Liverpool reject Andriy Voronin withdrawn for Marko Devic, also a striker.

6:57pm: Menez has been the most lively player but that doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with 'best player'. He should be on the scoresheet.

Not the best half. Both teams went through patches during which they were ascendant, before losing their rhythm.

Also...

Via Infostrada Live: Jeremy Menez received France's first card at Euro 2012. Ukraine is the only team left that have not received a card yet.

HALF-TIME

45mins: Poor foul by Menez. Goes in with a high foot but isn't booked. Considering he already is on a yellow card, he should be off. But his first one was a tad harsh.

43mins: Benzema's has a cross cut out after some good work by Nasri. The Manchester City players worked effectively in midfield but hasn't been his effervescent best.

Fair trade: We swapped the rain filled sky for this fiery orange on instead

39mins: Booking for Menez after a pull-back on Shevchenko.

38mins: The free kick is curled in nicely and Mexes powers a header towards goal, but Pyatov turns the ball round the post stylishly. Top stop.

38mins: Gusev clumps Ribery and a free-kick is awarded. He tried to pull out of the tackle a bit, but it was still a foul.

37mins: Benzema makes a hash of defending a corner from Ukraine but although the ball ends up back in the danger zone, it's cleared. Another corner though. Headed away.

33mins: Shevchenko runs past Rami and manages to lash in a vicious volley from a tight angle on the left side of the box, but Lloris handles it well. A sign that Sheva is sharp though.

Battle: Yevhen Konoplianka whips in a cross as French players try and block it

31mins: Ribery whizzes past Guzev, who lunges in to kick the ball out for a corner. A corner in everyone's eyes but the ref's, that is. Goal kick given.

28mins: Great chance for France! The ball runs across the Ukraine penalty area after Ribery's cross. Mykhalyk flicks it away from the lurking Benzema, but it falls to Menez. His low shot from about 10 yards out is saved superbly by Pyatov. But Menez should have scored.

27mins: Ribery finds Benzema on the edge of the box and the Real Madrid striker - looking for his first goal of the tournament - shoots low, tamely at the goalkeeper.

25mins: Poor play from Nazarenko lets France in, but Benzema and Menez get in each others way before the latter hooks it over the bar from just inside the box.

Denied: Pyatov keeps Menez out

24mins: Since I've said that, it's been all Ukraine. A nice backheel flick from Gusev came to nothing, before a Yarmolenko effort was dragged wide of the near post from 20 yards.

21mins: France the better side so far but not by a million miles. Both teams are finding it tough to get things going. The 55min delay obviously didn't help.

The pitch, oddly, doesn't look too bad. I've seen far more waterlogged surfaces. Good job by the groundstaff at the Donbass.

**News coming through that England's game against Sweden has been delayed by 15mins, so kick off is now 8pm**

16mins: Disallowed goal! Dainty run by Ribery, who slots it into Menez on the right. But the Frenchman is flagged offside - correctly - and although he finishes well, it won't count.

13mins: Thuggish few minutes from Ukraine. A couple of fouls then a big, cynical block on Debuchy by Serhiy Nazarenko. No booking though.

Bayern boys: Franck Ribery and Anatoliy Tymoschuk

9mins: Effort from a way out from right-back Mathieu Debuchy, easily saved. He's a target for Newcastle United and on the form he showed against England would be a super replacement for Danny Simpson - whether he leaves the club or not.

7mins: Shevchenko runs with the ball... into a corner. It doesn't stop a giant roar going up from the Ukraine fans, who love their talisman.

5mins: Karim Benzema forces a save with a powerful effort from the left-hand side of the box.

KICK-OFF II: We're back underway.

5.55pm: The referee and UEFA officials have stomped around on the pitch and bounced a ball (it didn't go that well) but the game is still on.

5.50pm: And it's confirmed. Make sure you're back here in 10 minutes as we go again.

A picture without rain: Yep, we're back underway

5.43pm: Good news! We are expected to be back underway at 6.

5.40pm: Men with pitchforks! Prodding the pitch! I'm not sure what they're doing but they're doing it in a fashion which suggests they do. Here's hoping it helps, because I'd quite like to see these sides in action again.

5.35pm: The storm is easing off a little bit and play may indeed continue at 6pm or afterwards. Stay tuned for more updates. In the meantime, I'll continue to add more rain pics.

Daily Mail head of sport Lee Clayton on Twitter: It always happens to ITV. We should be seeing pictures of the stadium flooding and informed chat from experts. Not a re-run of Eng v Fra.

Totally agree.

Self-explanatory: It's clear why play was suspended

Shelter: A fan cowers from the rain in a Ukraine flag

5.25pm: Apparently there will not be a decision on whether the match can continue until 6pm UK time.

Officials are reportedly hopeful that the game will kick off again. But looking at the continuing storm, I'd say they are being optimistic.

5.23pm: Goal for England! Oh no, wait. That's just ITV showing a replay of England v France from Monday night.

Would anyone else much rather watch what's going on in Donetsk?

Off they go: Players are ushered in

5.16pm: There was thunder and lightning to go with the torrential rain. It would normally be tempting to say the players should man up and get on with it - but really, looking at the extreme weather, there's no chance the game could have continued.

The referee made the correct decision to bring the players off - there is no doubt.

No go: Referee Bjorn Kuipers calls the game to a halt

Watch out: Here's just a little lick of that lightning

5.12pm: If the match is suspended by the referee, it will be replayed tomorrow.

I hope you're ready for some good pictures of people being rained on, because they're on the way!

Splish splosh: Samir Nasri and Taras Mikhalik fight for the ball

GAME SUSPENDED: Players are being taken off the pitch after five minutes because of the weather. Told you it was bad.

Incredible scenes. The rain is still pouring. There is standing water on the pitch too.

4mins: Menez scurried after a through-ball but Ukraine stopper Andriy Pyatov is out quickly to kick it to safety. In that one chance he's been more threatening than Malouda was last time out.

3mins: It's raining so much now that people have fled their seats and are cowering at the back of the stands to stay dry.

Wet: The Ukraine fans who didn't run from the rain

2mins: Already dodgy from Philippe Mexes, putting goalkeeper Hugo Lloris under pressure with a shoddy back-pass. It's cleared though.

1min: Did I say raining? It's a full blown thunderstorm.

Rain: French players pose before the game - you can see the rain starting to fall.

Setting: The Donbass Arena, before the thunderstorm hit.

KICK-OFF: Here's the countdown... and we're underway.

4.59pm: The anthems were very theatrical. Let's hope the game lives up to the build-up.

4.57pm: Remember the other day when we were all jealous of the weather out in Ukraine? Well, you'll be glad to know it's raining.

4.54pm: The teams are in the tunnel and will soon come out on to the pitch at the Donbass Arena. The atmosphere looks excellent.

4.40pm: Will Chelsea old-boy Andriy Shevchenko be able to continue in the same fashion he left off against Sweden? Two headers from the veteran striker meant the Scandinavian side are pointless going into the game against England later.

4.28pm: Menez is likely to occupy a wide position with Nasri tucking inside where the ineffective Malouda played against England.

Unity: There has been plenty of trouble at the tournament, but these rival fans seem to be getting on fine

4.25pm: Ukraine: Pyatov, Gusev, Mykhalyk, Khacheridi, Selin, Yarmolenko, Tymoschuk, Nazarenko, Konoplianka, Shevchenko, Voronin.
France: Lloris, Debuchy, Mexes, Rami, Clichy, Cabaye, Diarra, Menez, Nasri, Ribery, Benzema.

Hair we go: Ukraine fans in Donetsk

4.23pm: Team news coming in - it seems Ukraine will be unchanged from the side which stunned Sweden in the first round of matches. Meanwhile, France make two changes. Manchester United's Patrice Evra is dropped for rival club Manchester City's Gael Clichy, while Florent Malouda is replaced by Jeremy Menez.

Both Evra and Malouda will be disappointed - a lot like fans of their clubs were with the players' performances at a domestic level this season.

4.15pm: Good afternoon and welcome to Sportsmail's coverage of today's Euro 2012 Group D games. England v Sweden is currently trending in the UK on Twitter, but everybody knows the most important match (for the next three-and-a-half hours at least) is Ukraine v France. Catch all the action right here. We'll have the team news as it filters through.

Eyes on the ball: France know they will face a hostile environment in Donetsk