[Report originally from www.thefa.com] England took a major step towards the World Cup Finals after captain David Beckham inspired the Three Lions to a 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan. Steven Gerrard scored the all-important breakthrough strike for Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men in a match that was full of chances and close shaves. But Beckham set the tempo for a determined English performance and also grabbed a crucial second to seal three very important points. The Azerbaijan side were determined not not to follow up their 8-0 defeat in Poland with another embarrassing result, and they deserve credit for a battling display in which goalkeeper Dmitry Kramarenko was outstanding. They held the Three Lions at bay for 51 minutes and must have been dreaming of a shock result. But quite how England were denied goals during that period is hard to fathom. England dominated possession and had an astonishing 14 chances to score in the first half but somehow failed to finish. The catalogue of penalty-box drama included one ‘goal’ from Owen that was disallowed, two efforts that hit the woodwork and six that were saved. In fact, goalkeeper Kramarenko – who had conceded eight goals against Poland at the weekend, was in fantastic form. England poured towards his goal from the very first minute, with Rooney seeing one effort blocked and a header go over the bar before the St James’ Park crowd had even settled into their seats. There had been a real buzz in the England hotel in the build-up to the game, with Rio Ferdinand, in particular, in high spirits following a pleasing week for the Three Lions. And with memories of Saturday’s 4-0 victory over Northern Ireland, in which they were made to wait for the second half to open the scoring, England knew never to give up. That resolve was tested to the full, however, as chance after chance failed to end up in the net. England’s swift passing and high energy approach, led by a highly motivated Captain Beckham, was pleasant on the eye and full of promise, but somehow nothing was quite going their way. Owen’s header from a clever 10th minute corner routine, in which Beckham and Gary Neville twice swapped passes, just missed John Terry at the far post. Then England’s no.10 saw a header saved from a Becks cross that had been the culmination of a sweet, free-flowing move. Frank Lampard never goes long without an effort on goal, and he twice came close to breaking the deadlock, first with a thumping volley and then an almost perfect 20-yard first-time shot that beat Kramarenko but thudded high off the right-hand post. Owen missed perhaps the best two chances. Firstly when Joe Cole, looking right at home now on the left flank, looped over a perfect cross to the far post – only for Owen’s close-range header to be saved and the rebound cannon off Beckham and against the post. It was just as agonising after 43 minutes when Ashley Cole found Owen unmarked eight yards out, but somehow his header went wide. And the amazement around St James’ Park turned to disbelief when Owen finally slid the ball home in first-half injury time, only to find Beckham had been ruled offside as he took Gerrard’s superb reverse-pass. England fans didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. But Sven-Goran’s message at halftime was surely a simple ‘more of the same please’ after watching his team dominate for so long. His loyalty, and the patience of the home fans, was rewarded after 51 minutes when the big breakthrough finally arrived. Rooney powered skillfully down the right flank and into the area, before sending over a dangerous low cross that deflected towards Gerrard 18 yards out. It was high and difficult to control, but the Liverpool man thumped home a fine volley off the crossbar and into the net. With one goal under their belts England sensed victory, and eventually Beckham got the goal his efforts deserved. He had just seen a penalty claim turned down when Frank Lampard’s fine long ball beat the offside trap, leaving Becks on his own with only keeper Kramarenko between him and the goal. In textbook fashion Beckham took the ball down, turned to face his prey and calmly slotted home a crucial goal for England. Rooney almost added a cracker soon after, with a stunning volley that was spectacularly saved. But England were also grateful to keeper Paul Robinson when, on a rare break, Nadir Nabiyev found himself clean through on goal, only to be denied by a brave stop. In fact, it wasn’t the visitors’ only chance of a match in which they spent almost all of the time on the back foot. They had also created a fine opportunity after eight minutes when Gurban Gurbanov stole the ball from John Terry and shot left-footed just wide. And in the second half Robinson did well to smother a low volley from Elmar Bakhshiyev from ten yards out. They were perhaps small crumbs of comfort for coach Carlos Alberto, but after seeing his side so badly beaten by Poland a few days earlier they are no doubt positive memories that he will cling to. As for England, who also went close to making it 3-0 through both Owen and Joe Cole, they will take great credit for the way they remained patient and kept playing football despite so many chances going begging. And in the end the result was exactly what Head Coach Eriksson was looking for - six points from two games and one more step on the road to Germany. edited by Guest (17/02/2006) |