For long spells, it looked as though England would not be able to force a breakthrough in their opening Group F match in Trnava despite playing the last 33 minutes against 10 men following a red card for Slovakia captain Martin Skrtel. “We nearly held as great a team as England to two successive draws”.
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But Lallana delivered when it mattered.
The road to Russian Federation resumes for both sides on October 8, as the English will face a breather at home in the form of group minnows Malta, while the Slovaks face a now-critical fixture with Slovenia in Ljubljana.
So it was a tough start for Allardyce, one perhaps eased by the complete absence of the kind of hostility and bear-pit atmosphere which often greets England in Eastern Europe.
Allardyce, meanwhile, revealed an unlikely source of inspiration during his post-match press conference when he showed reporters a “lucky coin” he had been given before the game.
Rooney, 30, started the game in midfield alongside Jordan Henderson in a 4-1-4-1 system.
Kane is not now the dominant No.9 England need and want him to be, Raheem Sterling did not bring his Manchester City form with him to Trnava and Jordan Henderson failed to take his chance in the centre. Did Allardyce see a different performance altogether? “I can’t stop Wayne playing there”, said Allardyce.
Rooney’s sentiments were echoed by Allardyce, who admitted he was relieved to have won his first game in charge of the national team. Seriously. As a player you retire when you’re ready.
“He holds a lot more experience at worldwide football than me as an global manager. For this team, for the way we play, I’ve no problems being there”. It’s up to me to ask whether he’s doing well in that position and contributing.
Late drama in Romania saw Stevan Jovetic’s 87th-minute header cancel out Adrian Popa’s goal for the hosts just two minutes previously, before Nicolae Stanciu put a penalty over the crossbar in the seventh minute of injury time.
“It is nice to have played another game for England so that the one at the Euros is not the last one now”.
Kane, displaying the lack of confidence from failing to score for Tottenham this season, pulled a ball back for Raheem Sterling when he could have shot six yards out.
The first half ended with Sterling flashing a shot wide, but England were toiling.
It was all so heavy going.
Allardyce’s England do not play again until October, when they are due to lock horns with Malta and Slovenia in further World Cup qualifiers.
Former Liverpool centre-half Skrtel was already skating on thin ice when he picked up a second yellow card for an apparent stamp on Kane, which together with the introduction of Dele Alli seemed to spark England into life.
But the result meant that Allardyce became the ninth successive England manager to get off to a winning start and the way he understandably punched the air in relief, then frantically called on his players to regroup, spoke volumes.
Walcott then had a late goal disallowed for offside before Lallana secured the dramatic victory with nearly the last kick of the game.
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And as Lallana bagged the victor, Forrester, delighted, wrote: “Lallana the boyyy!”
