England win unconvincingly in friendly, but are on the right track for crucial Croatia qualifier

Ahead of the crucial qualifier against Croatia on Wednesday, England secured a win in a friendly with Slovenia at Wembley.

England’s performance was not exactly eye-catching, and Wayne Rooney was extremely fortunate to win a penalty that was converted by Frank Lampard to put England in the lead.

The Slovenians were right to complain that Wayne Rooney had tumbled too easily from Bostjan Cesar’s challenge, as the replay shows that, if anything, Rooney made contact with Cesar.

Despite the disputed first goal, Jermain Defoe remained on his hot-streak by giving England a two-goal lead with a striker’s finish from just outside the box.

The visitors, though, grabbed a nicely worked consolation with five minutes remaining as Glen Johnson failed to prevent Nejc Pecnik from crossing and Zlatan Ljubijankic slipped in past Joleon Lescott to nod past Robert Green.

The Three Lions can book a place at the World Cup by defeating Croatia next week, and Fabio Capello now faces the tough decision of whether or not he should start Defoe. Wayne Rooney failed to impress on the day, as he had three wonderful chances that he failed to convert.