Jermain Defoe justifies Gareth Southgate selection as England beat Lithuania in World Cup qualifier

The 34-year-old striker turns back the clock to score his side's first goal as England are one step closer to qualification for the global event, writes Richard Jolly.

Jermain Defoe, centre, scored England's first goal against Lithuania on Sunday. Darren Staples / Reuters

England 2

Defoe 21’, Vardy 66’

Lithuania 0

Much of Gareth Southgate’s England has been about the new. This was about the old.

Jermain Defoe was the anomaly in a youthful squad. The Sunderland striker also suggested the art of goalscoring is timeless by marking his international recall in trademark fashion.

The veteran set England on the way to victory over Lithuania, an expected win that makes progress to the World Cup look predictable.

A low-key game was scarcely emphatic or exhilarating, but it did bring vindication for the manager who had reached back into England’s past.

Preferred to Jamie Vardy, who also scored as a substitute, Defoe nevertheless showed why Southgate dropped the reigning Footballer of the Year for one who has proved more prolific this season.

While Wayne Rooney’s international career may be over, that of Defoe – three years his senior – seems revived.

Indeed, only Stanley Matthews, Tom Finney, Teddy Sheringham, Frank Lampard and Jack Charlton had scored for England at an older age than Defoe, whose first international goal since 2013 came 170 days into his 35th year.

It was a strike that one almost three decades his junior could savour. England’s mascots included five-year-old Bradley Lowery, the Sunderland supporter with terminal cancer with whom Defoe has struck up such a bond.

His 20th England strike was an illustration that goalscorers can linger on the margins of games then assume a sudden prominence.

A spectator for the first 20 minutes, Defoe then sprung to life. He slid on to Adam Lallana’s reverse pass to draw a save from Ernestas Setkus. It was just this third touch of the match.

Seconds later he had scored with the fourth, supplying an adept finish to Raheem Sterling’s cut-back. It was another indication of the Manchester City winger’s growing productivity, though he was overshadowed by the scorer.

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■ Richard Jolly: Southgate's tinkering aimed past cup qualification

■ Diego Forlan: England should learn from Uruguay if they want success

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Southgate’s intention was to field three interchanging No 10s. It was highlighted in the opener when Sterling, ostensibly the right winger, appeared on the left to cross.

Lallana was the most influential of the trio, the man voted England’s best player in 2016 staking an early claim to retain his title.

The Liverpool man helped seal victory. Vardy came on and scored with his first touch, finishing after Lallana met Kyle Walker’s pass with a lovely first-time ball to the substitute’s path.

It was reward for another Southgate’s switch, with Defoe departing for Vardy, and came after England had seemed to lack a clinical instinct.

Sterling could not apply the final touch to Ryan Bertrand’s cross. Dele Alli headed over. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, winning his first cap for 17 months, had a shot parried.

Vardy should have doubled his tally following a pass from his fellow replacement Marcus Rashford, who sparkled in his cameo but there was only an intermittent threat to England’s lead. They ended with the lone immaculate defensive record among European teams in World Cup qualifying.

Joe Hart has not conceded a goal in competitive international football since Euro 2016. He has presented himself as a calmer character than the loudmouth who erred against Iceland last summer and was elevated to captain his country.

Yet a rush of blood, when he came to try and punch, lost out to Vykintas Slivka and needed John Stones to make a goal-line clearances, was more like the Hart of last summer.

The stand-in captain convinced rather more when saving Slivka’s shot at his near post. The side ranked 107th in the world arrived intent on defending but showed a little more adventure when trailing.

England benefited from another assured display from Michael Keane in protecting their clean sheet, but this was less about a defensive newcomer than an attacking old-timer.

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