Nobody predicted it could be pretty when Sam Allardyce was appointed England manager.
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Lallana had been the outstanding performer and that goal saved Allardyce from an old-fashioned tradition every England manager experiences at some point – a media mauling – given Slovakia had to play with 10 men from 12 minutes into the second half.
Instead, Lallana’s late goal against Slovakia showed Allardyce he just might gain the fortuitous breaks his predecessors haven’t enjoyed.
But just as victory appeared destined to elude England, Lallana gathered Rose’s cross and unleashed a hopeful shot that crept between Kozacik’s legs and dribbed into the net at the near post. England evidently possessed a killer instinct that they did not at Euro 2016 – and most importantly, in their first game since arguably the country’s worst defeat in its history against Iceland, they got back to winning ways. And Wayne Rooney was in midfield again.
And Lallana said: “That goal has been a long time coming”. John Stones was clearly under instructions to curb his instinct to dribble out of defence.
“It was a huge relief for me, I’ll tell you that now”, added Allardyce.
Slovakia’s Martin Skrtel, right, challenges for a ball against England’s Raheem Sterling dur …
The two sides were equal for much of the first hour before the hosts’ captain Martin Skrtel was rightly sent off for a second yellow card offence. First he drove an effort off the post and then his curling shot was pushed clear as Allardyce still waited to celebrate the first goal of his tenure.
It was an early opportunity for Hart to put his Euro 2016 nightmare behind him, but there were signs of nerves in his first piece of action.
Clearly, the advantage of an extra man played in their favour, but the introduction of Alli in place of Henderson also made a positive difference to England’s performance.
But the changes were to no avail and England were fortunate not to fall behind on 37 minutes, with Danny Rose guilty of taking too much time on the ball inside his own area. Over the years, he has been prolific in qualification, scoring 30 of his 53 England goals in such games but, here, he attempted to be a playmaker.
Just before the 10-minute mark, Wayne Rooney – playing in a deep-lying role on the day he became England’s record outfield caps-holder – chipped a pass over the top but Lallana was unable to get a shot in.
At his best, he is a player, who makes things happen singlehandedly, an nearly one-man attack.
Adam Lallana’s last-gasp strike sealed a 1-0 triumph for the Three Lions in Slovakia to leave Allardyce breathing a huge sigh of relief.
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On 17 minutes, the Tottenham midfielder received a attractive back-heel from Viktor Fischer at the top of the box before placing his left-footed shot out of the reach of Armenia goalkeeper Arsen Beglaryan.
