England 3 Slovenia 1
England Rooney 59' (pen), Welbeck 66', 72'
Slovenia Henderson 58' (og)
Man of the match Danny Welbeck (England)
LONDON // A fourth win out of four for England to have them comfortably in the automatic qualifying positions, six points clear of third place in the group, means they are well on their way to a place at the European Championship finals.
In the second half there were two goals from Danny Welbeck, a goal for Wayne Rooney on the evening of his 100th cap, and a sparkle that had been painfully lacking in a drab first half.
Read more: England captain Wayne Rooney faces legacy questions ahead of his 100th cap
Whether it was particularly enthralling, or said much about how England might be equipped to play in the European Championship is another matter, but, in a sense, qualifiers were ever thus.
If there is little sense of danger or anxiety, it is largely because England are strolling through qualifying, without ever playing especially well.
Although they went behind – the first goal, an own goal, they had conceded in this qualifying campaign – they were level within two minutes and had three within a quarter-hour.
The first half was a yawn personified. It was devoid of incident of any kind, like some sort of artistic interpretation of nothing. To watch it was like sitting on a train crossing the steppe: nothing to see, just endless sameness, so much so that the lack of interest or landmark itself becomes a feature: it becomes hypnotic, almost hallucinogenic.
Slovenia sat six men behind the ball, perhaps understandably wary of England’s pace given the relative slowness of their two centre-backs, Bostjan Cesar, who won his 81st cap, a Slovenian record, and Branko Ilic. England, for long stretches, seemed to have little idea how to break that down.
This may end up being a recurring theme of qualifying. England’s one real strength is that pace in forward areas.
When given the opportunity to counter-attack, they can be devastating, as they showed in Switzerland, but against defences that sit deep and narrow, their threat is rather more limited. After half time, England switched from a diamond to a 4-3-3, with Sterling moving wide and immediately began to offer more of a threat – that is to say, any threat.
Typically, it was just as there was a semblance of pressure that Slovenia took the lead, Jordan Henderson glancing Valter Birsa’s free kick into his own net.
The response was immediate. Rooney, on the occasion of his 100th cap, dribbled into the box, was tripped by Cesar, took the penalty himself and – just - scored his 44th goal for England. It placed him level with Jimmy Greaves at third in the all-time standings.
Seven minutes later, England had the lead: Adam Lallana’s deflected shot was blocked and, as Slovenia struggled to clear, Welbeck hit a bobbling volley into the corner.
His second was rather more convincing, receiving a pass from Kieran Gibbs, playing a one-two with Raheem Sterling and scoring with a crisp finish – Welbeck’s fifth goal in his last four games for England.
That, though, was a rare moment of quality in a stodgy game. The result was right, the performance was good enough and, in the change of shape at half-time, there was at least evidence of flexibility.
This, though, was hardly a game to set the rest of Europe atremble.
Still, the only thing that really matters in qualifying is getting there and England look to have done that.
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