Lacklustre England Qualify but Rooney sees Red

In England’s 900^th international game in their history, they failed to celebrate a victory after an unconvincing performance against Montenegro who were only playing their 37^th game as they let a 2-0 advantage slip. The night was marred by Wayne Rooney being sent off in the second half for a ridiculous retaliation. The draw though ensured England's qualification for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.

Young celebrates England's opener.

It wasn’t the most welcoming conditions for England in Podgorica where heavy rain poured down  on the Podgorica stadium making it difficult for grip and unpredictable for the goalkeepers. England started the game brightly with a couple of attacks including one where debutant Phil Jones decided to go on a run beating the Montenegro defence and forcing an early corner for the visiting nation. The corner came to nothing but after a few minutes of good possession by the Three Lions, a great chance fell to Arsenal striker Theo Walcott who volleyed the ball as it came down to his feet but was denied the opening goal by a reasonably good save by the Montenegro goalkeeper Mladen Bozovic . After it seemed that England had clear control of this match, Montenegro started to attack themselves with some skilful play in midfield causing the England defence some problems but they couldn’t convert their pressure into a goal. In the 10^th minute, England finally found a breakthrough after creating a lot of opportunities when Theo Walcott played a great cross into the box which was met by the header of Manchester United winger Ashley Young to give England a 1-0 lead which they deserved.

Rooney receives red card.

England weren’t going to be satisfied with just one goal and kept on searching for another gap in the defence to breach.  A beautifully weighted ball over the top from the back to find Ashley Cole led to a chance but he could only put it wide for a goal kick after the Montenegrin defence closed him down.  Darren Bent almost set up another England goal after he weaved his way through the defence with some good control; his ball to Rooney however fell short and was cleared away from danger. Suddenly, Montenegro were looking lively again and hunting for an equaliser to restore the jubilant atmosphere that was present before the match begun.  A long ball over the top almost found their strikers but Gary Cahill dealt with the situation well and headed back to Joe Hart who was probably having a busier game than many people expected.  This attack led to a succession of chances for Montenegro who were now taking the game to England winning a couple of corners that, unfortunately for them, didn’t result to anything but they were looking much more hungry. Despite the wave of attacks coming from the home side, England doubled their advantage when Wayne Rooney played a lovely ball through to Ashley Young who squared it to Darren Bent to give England a 2-0 lead. It was looking comfortable for England but anyone who thought Montenegro would give up was very wrong. Again, they attacked England and had a few long range efforts going close before they got a very important goal before half-time. Zverotic  chested the ball down to his feet before striking a half volley which took a deflection off Gary Cahill and went into the net despite some contact from  Joe Hart in the process. Therefore, Montenegro were right back into the game and certainly stole the momentum from the English going into half-time.

Montenegro decided to make a change at the beginning of the second half bringing on Milan Jovanovic to replace Kascelan.  England won a free-kick early in the second half and this was well whipped in by Young but no one could get on the end of it and Bozovic collected confidently in the air. Then, Montenegro attacked and Joe Hart was forced to make a good save which he did very well. The home team were certainly showing fluency in their performance and continued to pressure England and when the ball managed to get through the England defence, there were shouts for a penalty which could have been given as it appeared Cahill made contact with the attacker but the referee was not persuaded by the wild shouts from the home supporters.  Fabio Capello made his first change when he replaced goal scorer Ashley Young with Stewart Downing. Another ball over the top caught the England back four out but luckily the ball carried all the way through to Joe Hart.  Darren Bent was then replaced shortly afterwards by Frank Lampard. England started to attack more and a corner that was driven powerfully by substitute Downing was met by the head of Gary Cahill who couldn’t direct his header goalwards. All of a sudden, a bizzare incident happened when Wayne Rooney was blocked by one of the Montenegrin players and then unnecessarily retaliated by kicking out. His act of stupidity earned him a straight red card and rounded up a difficult week for Rooney off the pitch. With less than 20 minutes to go, England had to play with 10 men. Capello responded and awarded Danny Welbeck his second England cap who came on for Theo Walcott. In the 84^th minute a glorious opening fell to Montenegro with an overhead kick that went over the bar. Hart was then forced into another great save dealing with a difficult shot across the goal and tipped it wide for a corner.  Then there were more shouts for a penalty in the England box; again the referee waved appeals away and booked the culprit Jovetic for simulation and this was the right decision.

An additional time of 3 minutes was indicated by the fourth official at the end of the 90 minutes and in the 91^st minute, Montenegro completed the comeback with a dramatic equaliser from Delibasic that sent Podgorica into complete delirium at the final whistle. The game finished 2-2 and a poor performance from England meant that they had lost their 2-0 lead. However, only a point was needed from this game to qualify so although there was much disappointment at the draw, England had qualified for Euro 2012 and secured top spot of Group G. Montenegro had secured a play-off place so they can still qualify for the tournament next Summer. The main talking point will most probably be the sending off for Wayne Rooney who will miss a minimum of one game at the tournament next year. Rooney joins David Beckham as the only two players to see red twice as an England player and this is the first time England have let a 2-0 lead slip since September 2004 which was against Austria.  Of England’s 900 games they’ve won 510, drawn 218 and lost 172. They are just two goals away from reaching 2,000 international goals in their history as well.

Full Time:

Montenegro 2-2 England

Other results in Group G

Wales 2-0 Switzerland

Group G Table           P    W   D    L    Pts

England	8	5	3	0	18
Montenegro	7	3	3	1	12
Switzerland	7	2	2	3	8
Wales	7	2	0	5	6
Bulgaria	7	1	2	4	5