Carelss England Clawed Back By Montenegro

Montenegro    1        England    1

                                      Damjanovic  77                                     Rooney  6               

Since taking over as England manager there’s no doubt that Roy Hodgson has reinstated some pride and passion back into the national side; however in the competitive games England are yet to prove themselves for a full ninety minutes. Last night’s second half collapse in Montenegro a prime example.

A chance missed but qualification is still in England's hands

The fact  is after six world cup qualifying games England have only despatched minnows San Marino and Moldova and are still yet to beat an established side; a statistic which is becoming increasingly alarming.

       

A trip to group leaders Montenegro was an opportunity to prove England’s status as the best team in the group. For forty five minutes England dominated, but just like in Poland back in October they buckled under pressure, a trait which needs to be removed from the teams system.

England’s stuttering start to the qualifying group had been largely overlooked; a notable victory over Brazil in last month’s friendly combined with Hodgson’s optimistic fresh approach made out that everything was going to plan.

At the start of the night the game lay perfectly poised. England came off the back of an expected 8-0 thrashing of San Mario, a useful warm up for this pivotal game. In contrast Montenegro may have only registered one against similar opposition Moldova; however it was a result which kept them two points clear at the top of the group prior to kick-off.

According to Montenegro coach Branko Brnovic England’s excuses were already in place. A bad pitch, a hostile crowd and inexperienced centre backs, as the opposing manager had accused Hodgson’s side of being “scared” of the occasion.

However England had other ideas, with the chance to seize control at the head of the group the visitors were quick to impose themselves from the off. Although he hasn’t always shown it in an England shirt, in Wayne Rooney, Hodgson has a world class striker on his day.

 With just two minutes on the clock the Manchester United forward noticed a slip from the Montengro keeper Mladen Bozovic, from the edge of the area Rooney produced a Cantona-esque chip which looped over the fortunate keeper who watched the ball rebounded off the far post.

Three minutes later England got their reward. Glen Johnson’s powerful strike forced a finger tip save from Bozovic over his cross bar at full stretch, but it was from the resulting corner that England capitalised. An in swinging delivery from Steven Gerrard was met by the head of Rooney, who effortlessly shrugged off his marker to steer his header into the net.

England were worthy of their lead and remained in complete control. They looked a threat going forward with Rooney holding up possession allowing Tom Cleverley, Danny Welbeck and James Milner to join in the attacks.

In contrast the highly rated Montenegro forward’s Mirko Vucinic and Steven Jovetic were barely involved in the game, as England pushed high up the pitch and faced little threat towards their own goal.

The only criticism of the first half was that England were only 1-0 up. After twenty four minutes Rooney clipped a delicate cross inches over the head of Welbeck following some good build up play. Minutes later Welbeck appeared to be brought down inside the penalty area, but his protests were turned away by the referee as the striker was harshly booked for diving.

The phrase ‘A game of two halves’ couldn’t describe the match any better. Straight from the kick off England were rocking, struggling to hang on to their first half advantage.

Hodgson’s side suddenly lost control of the midfield and became victims to continuous waves of Montenegro pressure. Jovetic in particular began to have a greater impact, urging on the crowd who had been thriving all night.

Joe Hart gave the England bench a brief scare when he palmed Vucinic’s shot between his own legs but eventfully recovered. Minutes later the England keeper was again required, this time to make a flying save to his right from Jovetic’s sweetly struck volley. Its easy to say now but maybe at that point a substitution would have helped England, who were desperately hanging on.   

The Montenegro equaliser was on the cards and arrived thirteen minutes from time. A routine corner wasn’t dealt with by some careless England defending; the ball was cannoned around the penalty area but wasn’t cleared allowing substitute Dejan Damjanovic to finally poke the ball home after a series of attempts. 

The goal resulted in an overdue England reaction. Gerrard’s free kick was met by a vital intervention by Bozovic to keep the scores level but it was all too little too late. It was a game England couldn’t afford to lose with the prospect of falling five points adrift from the top of the group. A draw keeps their fate in their own hands but after the first half this was a game England should have won.

Hodgson remained positive making it clear that qualification is still in England’s hands and that they were still unbeaten in the group. The team now face a long wait until their next competitive games; a crucial double header in September sees a home tie with Moldova followed by a trip to Ukraine.