England started this important fixture very brightly and caught their opponents out by immediately going on the front foot and putting pressure on Montenegro.  After just two minutes, a long through ball from Glen Johnson sent Wayne Rooney scampering down the right with England's first real attack.  Rooney spotted the goalkeeper off his line and tried an audacious and brilliant chip that struck the far upright before being cleared.  It was a superb effort, so unlucky, as it deserved a goal.  But, not to be denied, Rooney then put away his next chance with aplomb.  It had been an excellent opening by the visitors and it was emphasised by an early goal for England.

A corner from the left taken by Steven Gerrard found the head of Rooney, who cleverly lost his marker, the header was firm and accurate and the goal was the perfect tonic for a dominant England. 

England were winning the midfield battle completely with Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley getting through some sterling work.  Gerrard and James Milner complimented this duo and to be honest Montenegro had no real answer to the pressure.  A second goal at this stage would have probably sewn up the three points and on 15 minutes Milner went close to making it 2-0 with a cross-shot from a good position that went just wide of the far post.

At the other end, the pre-match worries over England's inexperienced defensive partnership of Joleon Lescott and Chris Smalling proved unfounded as both players showed a maturity beyond their years, to bite into tackles and to make some fine interceptions.  Joe Hart was not troubled in the first half and on 24 minutes it was England who almost increased their lead.  Danny Welbeck, lively throughout, picked up the ball from a clearance deep in his own half and then set off on a long run into the heart of the home defence.  He found Rooney on the left and when the cross came in the ball was only a whisker too high for Welbeck to head home.  Shortly after that good attack, Milner again fired in a cross-shot and this time Rooney was inches away from making a vital connection.  It was all going so well and Montenegro's frustration was manifesting itself into some rather robust late challenges.

Just before the half hour mark another good England attack saw a couple of efforts blocked with Gerrard's being the best of those.  Hart had still not had a save to make and England were in control, all they needed was that second goal.

On 41 minutes Welbeck made another determined break into the box and this time he fell under a challenge from Stefan Savic.  It looked a certain penalty, but incredibly the referee deemed that Welbeck had 'dived' and promptly booked him for simulation.  Subsequent replays later showed that Welbeck was extremely unlucky, not only to get booked but also to be denied a penalty.  Once again it was a case of England not getting their just desserts in an away game.  A goal then and almost certainly they would have been able to go on to victory.  As it was the half-time break was to prove unsettling for England.

The Montenegro manager must have read his team the riot act at the interval because after the break they came out with a new enthusiasm and fire in their approach.  For a while England could not regain possession or advance out of their half as Montenegro put the pressure back on them.  Suddenly the visitors were hustled out of their confident stride, passes went astray and the ascendency was with the home team, backed by their loud and vociferous crowd.  Two minutes into the half Stevan Jovetic had a header at the far post and the ball struck the side netting with Hart scrambling across his goal.  That was Montenegro's best chance so far and it led to a series of corners, which England struggled to clear properly.  On 59 minutes Lescott's only mistake of the night almost led to an equaliser.  He tried to head clear a corner but only succeeded in setting up Mirko Vucinic for a clear sight of goal.  To England's relief the number nine wildly shot over the crossbar.

England tried to claw themselves back into the play and Gerrard curled in a good free-kick, but then a fine break by Montenegro had England backpeddling and exposed.  But again the finish was not good and Jovetic wasted the chance.  Welbeck was then fouled on the edge of the box as England attacked again and Rooney's curling free-kick was well saved by Mladen Bozovic.  At the other end Hart fumbled one attempted catch and the ball very nearly squirmed in off the inside of his leg, only for him to recover quickly and save.  The England fans, of which there were many, had their hearts in their mouths at this point because it did look ominous for the visitors as the pressure intensified.  Vucinic shot wide from another good position and then Hart made a good save to push Jovetic's shot around a post.  From the corner the ball struck Gerrard and bounced off a post to go out for another corner.  England were living dangerously and from the next corner the deserved equaliser came.

The ball came into the area and there was a free header which Hart parried well, but could only push it straight back out to the danger area.  Several times the ball ping-ponged about with nobody able to make a positive clearance.  It proved fatal as substitute Dejan Damjanovic finally made the crucial touch that forced the ball over the line to send the home fans into delirium.

Roy Hodgson decided to bring on Ashley Young at this point for Cleverley, and if there was a criticism, then maybe Hodgson might have made a couple more changes at this time, or maybe even a little earlier, in an attempt to wrestle back the initiative.  To be fair though, England did finish the stronger of the two sides as they again started to drive forward.  Gerrard hit a fine shot just wide and two minutes into injury time another Gerrard effort was rather fortuitously pushed over the bar by Bozovic.  That was the last chance of the game and if that had gone in then maybe the unfair heavy criticism England received from the media after the game may have been avoided.  And there were some impressive individual performances too, with Smalling, Lescott, Carrick, Cleverley, Milner, Welbeck and Rooney the pick of the England side.

Sometimes you have to acknowledge the opposition in these matches and Montenegro certainly raised their game in the second half.  England, meanwhile, did falter after the break, having dominated the first half, but overall the point was deserved and may prove vital in the final analysis.