ENGLAND 2, SLOVAKIA 1
Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford was villain turned hero as England took another giant stride towards qualification for the World Cup finals.
The Reds’ striker was at fault for Slovakia’s opening goal at Wembley, but redeemed himself by scoring the matchwinning goal and also being named man of the match.
Rashford showed great character in the wake of adversity as did England in battling from behind to emerge victors in the battle of the top two in group F.
And the win leaves England needing only one point from their two remaining games to guarantee top spot, given they also have a superior goal difference.
Rashford’s early error led to Stanislav Lobotka giving Slovakia a third minute lead.
It took time for England to regain their poise and Eric Dier equalised shortly before time and Rashford popped up with the winner just short of the hour.
England coach Gareth Southgate praised Rashford saying he was not surprised by the resilience he showed.
He explained: “I have worked with him and he is such a mature character, though the start surprised me.
“His maturity is excellent and he is never in awe of the occasion and never shows any fear.
“He is still work in progress, but getting stronger and has an impact in getting players up the pitch and counter attacking. He also had a huge impact on the crowd and them sticking with us when we needed them.”
Southgate was pleased with the way his side battled from behind and believes his players will be better for recent experiences – they also won 4-0 in Malta on Friday.
He continued: “It has been a big week and to go through the experience of Friday and live with the spotlight for the last couple of days, and the way they responded to going behind, they showed resilience and tactical awareness.
“They are still incredibly young but when they win that instills belief.
“We didn’t start well and were too stretched and we couldn’t cope with Slovakian pressure and have to do better with that.
“In the second half we controlled the game really well and showed maturity.
“We kept the ball well at 2-1 and were never hanging on and panicking.”
Slovakia coach Jan Kozak has no complaints admitting England were the superior side in the second half.
While Slovakia, whose side included former Manchester City player Vladamir Weiss and squad ex-Blues’ player Albert Rusnak, enjoyed 54-per-cent possession, England had 23 goal attempts to Slovakia’s five with on target efforts 10-2 in their favour.
England made two changes from the side that started Friday’s qualifier in Malta as Rashford and Dier came in for Raheem Sterling and Jake Livermore.
Rashford was the villain as Slovakia snatched the lead in the third minute.
The Reds’ striker was dispossessed as he tried to dribble the ball out of defence.
Lobotka played a return pass with Adam Nemec whose delightful lofted ball put the front man, who plays for Celta Vigo in Spain’s La Liga, in the clear to slot the ball past Joe Hart to send Slovakia to the top of group F.
England, clearly rattled, struggled to impose themselves on the game as Slovakian spirits had soared.
Rashford twice, Harry Kane and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all had goal attempts, but three were blazed wide and went went straight to keeper Martin Dubravka.
England equalised after 37 minutes with their first clear sight at goal.
Rashford’s low corner was converted at the near post by Dier whose shot from six yards flashed into the roof of the net, a terrific piece of finishing for his third international goal.
England suddenly had their tails up and could have finished the opening half ahead had Dubravka not fisted a piledriver from Ryan Bertrand to safety. The keeper also turned a fierce drive from Rashford round the post for a corner.
In a lively start to the second period, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Kane and Dele Alli all had chances while Slovakia’s Nemec’s fiercely-struck angled drive was beaten out by Hart.
England went ahead for the first time just short of the hour when Rashford redeemed himself for his earlier error.
They intercepted the ball in midfield and Rashford was released and he struck a low drive past Dubravka for his second goal for England.
Southgate made his first changes with seven minutes left, a double substitution as Rashford and Oxlade-Chamberlain were replaced by Sterling and Danny Welbeck.
Then in the third and final minute of added time Livermore came on for Alli to eat up more time as England held on to their slender lead.