Slovenia 2 England 3
At this rate, it cannot be long before someone in the camp suddenly announces that England are looking good to win Euro 2016. Let us hope they can continue to operate with a measure of restraint and remember, for instance, their opponents are sandwiched between Congo and Cameroon at 48th in Fifa's world rankings. Yet this is now six straight wins in qualifying and, after defending far too generously, there was something striking about the way Roy Hodgson's team shook their heads clear to maintain their immaculate run in Group E. They certainly showed competitive courage during a second half that saw Jack Wilshere record his first international goals with a pair of beautifully delivered goals from outside the penalty area. Briefly, England were pegged back again because of Nejc Pecnik's 85th-minute header but, on the balance of play, the late winner from Wayne Rooney was thoroughly deserved.
Rooney is now level with Gary Lineker on 48 England goals, one short of Sir Bobby Charlton's scoring record, and had so many chances throughout the game he will probably reflect that he could have got it all over with. At times he seemed to be suffering the same problem that Lineker experienced in 1992 when chances are rushed and the frame of the goal suddenly appears to have shrunk by a few inches. Yet he took his goal with the kind of composure that had been hitherto missing and now there is San Marino to come in September and the prospect of another goalfest.
The lingering memory, however, will be Wilshere’s goals and it was a wonderful London-bus kind of way for the midfielder to remind us there can be great power in that left foot, as well as refinement. The second one in particular was a beauty, but the first one was not too shabby either. Wilshere picked out the same top corner both times and at that stage England were so much in control they probably ought to have spared themselves the late drama.
Hodgson had made a good call by switching to a 4-1-4-1 system at half-time, with Fabian Delph pushing forward, and they played with great adventure after the setback of Milivoje Novakovic opening the scoring eight minutes before the break.
Novakovic earns his living in Japan these days with Nagoya Grampus, the 10th club of a 17-year career that reached its peak when he finished as Cologne's top scorer in three out of four Bundesliga seasons. He turned 36 last month and it must have been startling for Hodgson to see a player of that age breaking free from the England defence to run clear. Josip Ilicic's pass had split the entire England backline, yet the problems actually started earlier than that with Phil Jones throwing the ball straight to an opponent from a throw in almost level with the Slovenia penalty area. As the hosts made their move, Gary Cahill tried to play offside and Chris Smalling let Novakovic go. England's high defensive line was asking for trouble and Slovenia's No11 steadied himself, then rolled his shot past the advancing Hart and just inside the post.
The Stozice could never be described an intimidating place, with its modern sweeping stands and the posters for Bob Dylan’s date here in a couple of weeks. Yet the bare-chested ultras behind one goal, bobbing up and down to the beat of their drum, made a decent racket and England’s defending encouraged the crowd to turn the volume even higher.
The nature of Pecnik's goal will also worry Hodgson, coming from a left-wing cross and the Slovenian substitute getting above Kieran Gibbs to head in the equaliser. Yet there was more good than bad for England, ultimately, even if it was a close-run thing sometimes.
Raheem Sterling's end product was occasionally erratic but he did pick up some menacing positions and played with more confidence than has been seen recently. Delph justified his selection ahead of James Milner. Jordan Henderson did well both in midfield during the first half and then when he replaced Jones at right-back after the interval. Rooney's chance came to him with a degree of luck, after a challenge by Bojan Jokic on the substitute Theo Walcott, but England had attacked with enough menace to warrant their fortune.
(Guardian service)
