Match Summary

Slovenia Team

England Team

After the Dustcart, comes the Lord Mayor's Show!  After the awful match in Dublin the previous weekend, we were treated to a terrific game, and a super England victory that takes them a step nearer to qualification for the European Championships next summer.  Right from the first whistle England were sharp, positive and played with a real sense of purpose.  It wouldn't be England if there wasn't a few stumbles along the way, and there were a couple during this match, but overall the win was richly deserved.

As early as the fourth minute Raheem Sterling had a wonderful chance to open the scoring, when a fine pass from Wayne Rooney gave the under pressure Liverpool youngster the perfect chance to answer his critics.  Unfortunately, in trying to lob the goalkeeper, Sterling hit the ball a fraction too hard and the ball cleared the crossbar.  To the lad's great credit the miss never affected him and he was a thorn in Slovenia's side for the whole game.  Four minutes later a terrific move of one-touch football only ended when Kieran Gibbs saw his cross deflected.  The positive start was encouraging and England dominated possession for long periods.  Another fine pass saw a good shot by Sterling deflected wide and it seemed only a matter of time before England would take the lead.

Fabian Delph's powerful running and Jordan Henderson's link-up play was perfectly complemented by a thrilling display from Jack Wilshere.  His touch and vision was excellent throughout and he was involved again when Rooney fired in a shot only to see Samir Handanovic make a wonderful one-handed save.  England were getting closer, as Andros Townsend then put in a good cross that was saved.  At the other end, only a free-kick by Milivoje Novakovic troubled Joe Hart, but the shot was an easy save.  A draw or a defeat would be of no use to Slovenia and they pressed forward when they could, But England held all the aces at this stage.  Sterling was tripped when almost through and then Townsend saw another effort saved.  The only worry was that England had had all the pressure but could not find a route to goal.  Then, on 37 minutes, the unthinkable happened.

A lapse in concentration at the back, which stemmed from a bad throw-in from Phil Jones, saw England's defence exposed as Josep Llicic was able to pass through Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill to send Novakovic on an unchallenged run at goal.  To the veteran's credit he took his chance brilliantly as Hart tried to narrow the angle, slipping the ball wide of the keeper and in off the post.  It was a bitter blow for England and for a few moments they lost their composure.  To be losing at half-time was a travesty if truth be told, but it just goes to show it is no good having oodles of possession if you don't make it pay with goals.

The break gave Roy Hodgson the chance to have a word with his players, and at the restart the manager replaced the injured Jones with Adam Lallana, pushing Henderson to right-back.  On the surface this seemed a strange move, especially with specialist right-back Nathaniel Clyne on the bench.  As it turned out though the substitute played a big part in the fightback by England.  From the restart England went onto the front foot.  A good break ended because no England player wanted to shoot, and then Henderson hit a shot well wide.  It seemed that Slovenia, at this point, were happy to hold what they had, but eventually the pressure told and on 57 minutes England finally equalised.  An attack down the right saw Lallana in the thick of the action and when the ball was half-cleared there was Wilshere, following up, to lash home a tremendous shot from the edge of the penalty area.  It was his first goal for England and emphasised a brilliant performance by the Arsenal player. 

England were now in the ascendency, and a minute later a superb run by Sterling set up Rooney for what seemed a certain goal.  Somehow the skipper contrived to miss the target when it seemed easier to score.  And then another minute into the game Townsend great pull back to Rooney presented the striker with anen easier chance.  Again Rooney was found wanting, but it was also good to see England stepping on the gas.  Surely the chances would continue to come.  Delph, Lallana and Townsend all had efforts at goal before, finally, England deservedly took the lead, and what a cracking goal it was.  A superb move down the right involving Henderson and Townsend saw the ball fed towards Lallana.  A clever back flick from the Liverpool man laid the ball into the path of Wilshere, who took one touch before unleashing an unstoppable shot to make it 2-1 to England.

Theo Walcott was immediately sent on for Townsend as England looked to exploit some tired home legs with a burst of pace.  Bostjan Cesar was extremely lucky not to receive a straight red card when he went in on Rooney with, what amounted to, a forearm smash that Mick McManus would have been proud of!  Cesar didn't even receive a yellow for that one.

England had looked good offensively in this match, but there were still doubts at the back.  The back four all looked a little shaky at times and there was no dominant figure taking control.  This was to prove costly in the 84th minute as a move down the left gave the impressive Bojan Jokic the chance to send over a wonderful cross to the far post where Nejc Pecnik outjumped the flatfooted Gibbs to head home.  It was a good header, well taken, but woeful defending by England. 

Just as it seemed that England's unblemished record in the group matches had come to an end there was time for one last twist in the tale.  On 86 minutes Henderson passed towards Walcott but it was intercepted by a defender, only for the ball to run into the path of Rooney.  The striker had missed several glorious opportunities earlier, but this time there was no mistake as he side-footed wide of the crestfallen goalkeeper for his 48th [ed:47th] England goal.  It takes Rooney level with [ed:one behind] Gary Lineker and just one [ed:two] behind Bobby Charlton's all-time record.

As there always is with England after an international, there is plenty to put right and problem areas of the team.  But you cannot fault a perfect six out of six wins and an unbeaten run that has stretched throughout the whole season.  Let us spend the summer focusing on the positives on what was an entertaining and exciting England victory.  Oh, and one other thing, please wrap Jack Wilshere up in cotton wool, because more performances like this one could make him a serious contender for England legend status.
   

Source Notes