Slovenia 2 England 3
A brace of beauties from Jack Wilshere and a late winner from Wayne Rooney ensured England left Slovenia with maximum points and their 100 per cent record in European Championship qualifiers intact.
The Three Lions – who have completed their first unbeaten season since 1991 – now have 18 points from 18 in Group E. With Switzerland (who beat Lithuania 2-1 on Sunday) in second, six points behind, Roy Hodgson's side are all but guaranteed a place in next year's championships, although how they'll fare once there remains a matter for speculation.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
In truth, they've yet to be seriously tested since their miserable World Cup in Brazil with a record of played ten, won eight and drawn two testament to that fact. The likes of Slovenia, Switzerland and Estonia have offered little in the way of world-class opposition but as the cliché goes, you can only beat what's put in front of you.
England did that on Sunday evening, although they were made to work for the three points after Milivoje Novakovic put the hosts ahead on 37 minutes, the veteran striker scoring his 30th goal for his country after Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill were caught napping by Josip Ilicic's through ball.
Slovenia preserved their lead until 57 minutes when Wilshere scored his first of the night – and his first international goal in 28 appearances – thanks to good work by Adam Lallana. His pass gave the Arsenal midfielder the space to hit a swerving shot that Samir Handanovic could only help into his net.
Fifteen minutes later Lallana and Wilshere combined again with the latter running onto a delightful flick from the Liverpool man to send a thundering drive into the top corner of the Slovakian net. But back came the hosts, levelling six minutes from time with the England defence once more at fault. This time Kieran Gibbs let himself be outjumped by Nejc Pecnik, whose powerful header eluded the despairing dive of Joe Hart.
The Slovakian fans celebrated what they believed to be a share of the points but that was before Wayne Rooney pounced on a through ball from Theo Walcott to fire past Handanovic for his 48th international goal, drawing him level with Gary Lineker and leaving him just one behind Bobby Charlton's record. "It's great to score the winner but it was a great team performance," said Rooney. "I have formed a good partnership with Jack [Wilshere] and hopefully he stays injury free for us now. We have made a lot of progress since the World Cup."
Wilshere, whose season was blighted by a serious ankle injury, downplayed his contribution to the victory but nonetheless his sense of satisfaction was obvious: "They have been a long time coming," he said of his first goals for his country. "I probably wouldn't have had a shot for the second one if I hadn't already scored, but after I'd scored one I had more confidence. I have said that I need to score more goals, it is something I need to add to my game. Lampard, Gerrard and Scholes have done that for England."
