England 4 - 1 Montenegro Match Report

England’s fate is now well and truly in their own hands after a very good performance and victory against Montenegro at Wembley.

Andros Townsend was rewarded for his fine start to the season with Tottenham with a start in this fixture, and he certainly didn’t disappoint, producing a man of the match winning display that proved justification to Roy Hodgson’s selection.

They started the game with a ferocious intensity, with Leighton Banes, standing in for the injured Ashley Cole, influential in creating opportunities for Danny Welbeck and Steven Gerrard, without success due to some fine goal keeping by Montenegro’s keeper Vukasin Poleksic.

It was a first half of frustration for England. Montenegro defended well and limited the home side to shots from outside the box. Only on one occasion, with the defence breached, Wayne Rooney had the goal at his beckoning, albeit from a tight angle, only for his shot to hit the outside of the post and out for a goal kick.

Townsend was in the thick of the action at the start of the second half.  Bringing the game to life, with his cross setting up Wayne Rooney for England’s first after good work and a superb run by the Spurs player.

It soon became two after Montenegro's Branko Boskovic, who had played very well in the away team’s central midfield rather comically sliced Danny Welbeck's cross into his own net.

Montenegro seemed to wake up after this and it then developed into their best spell of the game with Manchester City's Stevan Jovetic striking the bar from 25 yards and almost straight afterwards, Dejan Damjanovic threatening to set up an anxious end to the game when he pulled a goal back.

However it was only right that man of the match performer Townsend restored England’s two goal advantage, hitting a rasping right footed shot past the despairing dive of keeper Poleksic to make it 3-1.

Daniel Sturridge finished off the game by winning and then proceeding to score the penalty that made it 4-1 one to The Three Lions who now sit at the top of the table again with 19 points.

It was a vital win for England, especially after Ukraine had earlier beaten their next opponents Poland earlier by a solitary goal, giving England it all to do against a side they had failed to beat in three previous meetings.

Roy Hodgson’s men can now fully focus on Tuesday’s fixture, knowing they still have to get the job done if they are going to cement their place at the World Cup finals next year.

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