England 3-1 Slovenia: Rooney and Welbeck combine to rescue tame Three Lions
Captain Wayne Rooney capped off his 100th England appearance with a goal, as his penalty and Danny Welbeck’s brace saw the Three Lions come from behind to secure a 3-1 Euro 2016 qualifying win over Slovenia.
Despite the final score, an 80,000-strong Wembley crowd were forced to endure a dreadful opening half, with the majority of fans looking disinterested in a game of few clear-cut chances.
But a dreary match came to life after the break, with the visitors snatching a surprise lead through an unfortunate Jordan Henderson own-goal, before centurion Rooney won and netted from the spot to level on 59 minutes.
Roy Hodgson’s men then ran riot in an impressive 15 minute spell, making the most of their ascendency to take a deserved lead when Welbeck fired in a scrappy volley six minutes later.
And the Arsenal striker soon put gloss on the scoreline with his second, finishing off a brilliant tiki-taka move around the box with a clinical close-range finish, and firing England six points clear at the top of Group E.
It was a scrappy opening 45 on a shredded Wembley pitch, which continued to suffer following last weekend’s NFL visit.
There was little to celebrate about England’s play, which was full of effort but no end product as Rooney, Welbeck and Raheem Sterling went closest with a series of half-chances.
Debutant Nathaniel Clyne was a breath of fresh air at right-back, the pacey youngster causing a real problem for the hosts on the flank with sharp passing and darting forward runs, but his deliveries were well dealt with by an otherwise untroubled Slovenia back-four.
They did well to keep the Three Lions at bay, with Sterling and Welbeck denied by a string of decent last-ditch interceptions as they looked to run in behind.
The first real chance on goal came from Rooney, who hammered over the bar after neat play from Sterling, who later saw an effrt dribble harmlessly wide.
And while Slovenia were certainly the more quiet side, veteran forward Milivoje Novakovi? proved a threat in the air but could only plant a header well wide from an in-swung corner.
England were brighter after the break, with both Rooney and Phil Jagielka going close, but despite their early endeavour they soon fell behind when Henderson looped a header over Joe Hart and into his own net from a probing Slovenia free-kick.
The Three Lions looked shell-shocked but, to their credit, immediately pressed for an equaliser.
And their forward push bore fruit when Rooney was clipped in the box after some neat footwork, with the skipper smashing his 44th international goal past Samir Handanovic from the spot, moving him joint-third with Jimmy Greaves in England's all-time scoring charts.
The goal seemed to lift a weight off the hosts’ shoulders, with Welbeck finally putting them in front moments later when his miss-hit volley dribbled though a bundle of bodies and into the net, after Handanovic parried Adam Lallana’s cross-cum-shot.
And the Arsenal man continued his fine goalscoring form, netting his fifth in four England games, when he coolly slotted in his second from close-range after a brilliant one-two with Sterling bamboozled the visitors’ defence.
The dazzling move looked out of place in an otherwise poor exhibition, and while the hosts had Gary Cahill to thank as his expertly-timed tackle denied Kevin Kampl in the box late on, there was precious little action of note in the final 15, as England saw out a laboured win.