England beat Slovakia 1-1 in their opening World Cup qualifying match on Sunday, giving Sam Allardyce a win in his first match as the Three Lions' boss.
"?The former Sunderland manager, on his first real day on the job, tweaked Roy Hodgson's Euro 16 squad up just a little. But Wayne Rooney's surpassing of David Beckham as England's most capped outfield player (116 appearances) was as big a story in itself.
The match began rather speculatively, with the sides feeling each other out for the first few minutes. And they refused to give a game to watch for most of the first half.
Harry Kane got a great chance to open the scoring in the 22nd minute after a pass from Spurs teammate Kyle Walker, but mistimed his shot and failed to catch the ball. The striker was left isolated for large periods of the half, with England's link up play leaving a whole lot to be desired.
The Slovaks carved out the best opportunity, and the Three Lions must have thanked their lucky stars when a great crossed flashed across the goal begging to be tucked away in the 37th minute. Dusan Svento threw himself at the ball, but missed by the girth of his boot lace, sparing England's blushes.
Allardyce's men would respond a few moments later, with Raheem Sterling getting off a close-range shot from the right-hand side following a neat cut-back from Kane which fell to him. The Manchester City ace took a touch to get the ball out of his feet, but his strike flashed just wide of the post.
The excitement would soon phase out as the match headed into halftime, leaving both teams ruing missed chances as they walked towards the tunnel.
England looked a bit better coming out of half time. Sterling created a chance for Walker with a cross in the opening minutes, and got a shot off from the edge of the box only to have it deflected by a white shirt.
Former Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel would get himself sent off in the 57th minute for a "?nasty stamp on Kane, having picked up a yellow card earlier on.
The Three Lions turned up the heat around the 75th minute, and Adam Lallana had two brilliant opportunities to steal a march in the space of a few seconds, beating the keeper and hitting the post, then forcing a save after substitute Theo Walcott's mishit shot fell to him.
Moments later, Walcott played a splendid cross in from the right wing for Daniel Sturridge, who also came on as a substitute. The Liverpool man would struggle to reach the ball, watching on as it flew past his body.
England would finally get the ball over the line through Walcott's poke in the last minute of the match, but the winger's goal would be ruled offside, much to the disappointment of the Three Lions camp, who argued that an opposing player had gotten a touch on the ball.
Lallana, however, would pop up with the relieving winner in the dying moments, getting a shot past the keeper after some great play from Danny rose on the left-hand side. The full-back fired in a low cross after beating his marker, and Lallana would make no mistake this time, putting England ahead 1-0 and ultimately sealing a first win under Big Sam with a shot through the keeper's legs.
Lallana goal for England https://t.co/7m5qxAvJiq
Line-ups
Slovakia XI: Kozacik, Pekarik, Skrtel, Durica, Gregus, Hubocan, Hamsik, Svento, Mak, Duris, Pecovsky
Substitutes: Dubravka, Novota, Gyomber, Kubik, Kiss, Povazanec, Pich, Sylvestr, Pauschek, Stetina
England XI: Hart; Walker, Cahill, Stones, Rose; Dier, Henderson; Lallana, Rooney, Sterling; Kane
Substitutes: Heaton, McCarthy, Smalling, Walcott, Sturridge, Jagielka, Clyne, Drinkwater, Vardy, Alli, Antonio