Andros Townsend rewarded the faith of boss
Roy Hodgson by scoring to help the Three Lions to a deserving 4-1 victory over
Montenegro that leaves them just one more win away from booking their place in
Brazil.
England opened the scoring in the 48th minute as
Wayne Rooney finishes from close range after
Poleksic's excellent stop from
Danny Welbeck. Rooney stuck out a leg, brought the ball under control and from a central position calmly slotted it in.
The Three Lions got another goal in the 62nd minutes from comical own-goal from Boskovic as he puts Welbeck's cross past his own keeper. Sturridge's back-heel released Welbeck, whose cross was dangerous only for
Boskovic, who, from 12 yards, somehow found the bottom corner when he was attempting to clear.
Montenegro pulled back with a goal 10 minutes later.
Damjanovic sticks out a boot to meet
Fatos Beciraj's shot, sending it past
Joe Hart. Hodgson looked a little worried as he sat on the bench, chewing at his nails.
Handed his debut on the most tense of occasions, Townsend played with a freedom no one else could match. In the 78th minute, Townsend runs from just inside the Montenegro half, beating several men before hammering a low shot past Poleksic. A stunning goal in a brilliant debut.
As the game looked certain for another England victory,
Ivan Kecojevic hacks down Sturridge in the box to give England another opportunity in the injury time.
Sturridge insists on taking it himself and makes no mistake, sending the keeper the wrong way and rolling the ball home.
After the match, England will now need to beat
Poland to get through to
World Cup 2014. If they fail, they have to face the play-offs.
