[Report originally from www.thefa.com] Michael Owen helped England to a 1-0 win in Azerbaijan to keep them top of Group Six with ten points from four games. More would have been expected in normal conditions, but these weren't. On a wet and windy night, which was almost halted before we'd even begun, nature acted as a leveller and gave Azerbaijan some hope. Despite enjoying more of the ball from start to finish, England couldn't capitalise and a lack of invention and opportunities meant that the Azeris were never really troubled, save from the goal, and the game remained on a knife-edge throughout. And Azerbaijan were by no means fearful of their opponents who sit 107 places above them in the FIFA rankings. Beforehand, coach Carlos Alberto was concerned his players would tuck pads and pens into their shorts to collect autographs. But from the way they approached the match, you could tell it was a scalp they wanted. They were quickest out of the blocks and forced England on to the back foot early with a shot in the opening minute. Although it caused Paul Robinson no real concern, it made their intentions known and visitors realised that they'd have to work for the spoils. When the home side had possession they were not afraid to try their luck, but all too often their shots from range were no problem for England's back-line, looking for their second successive clean-sheet. When England began to play, it was in neutral territory and Azerbaijan were able to get bodies into defensive positions. The blustery winds made it difficult for Sven's men to play to a familiar pattern, and the forward three of Owen, Rooney and Defoe were isolated - never mind the man-to-man marking they had to endure. Even after Owen's goal midway through the first-half, the Three Lions failed to secure the points early and gain a healthy advantage to throw into their goals for column. However, as any coach will tell you, on a night like this the most important thing is to return home with the win, and thanks to the captain - rounding off a nice England move - we did. It came at a good time for England, just after the early sparring, and looked like it would set up a more convincing win. The ball was worked from the right over to Ashley Cole on the left. His cross was telling. From the corner of the penalty area it cleared the Azeri defenders in the middle and Owen arrived to guide his wind-assisted header beyond Jahangir Hasanzade to nestle into the corner of the net. England continued to pass the ball and keep possession while looking for more openings to punish Carlos Alberto's team. The Azeris, though, were more direct with their attempts and Aslan Kerimov, Emin Guliyev and Rashad Sadygov all had a go, butnone forced Robinson to sweat. The one time they really made the England fans' hearts flutter - from a corner - was when Samir Aliyev latched on to a ball flicked into the six-yard box, but the Spurs 'keeper was sharp and scrambled away with his legs. In the second-half, Cole sent in another delivery from the left and on a normal night may have given the front-runners something to attack, but a gust took it on to the top of the bar and out for a goal-kick. In the closing stages, Owen collected a ricochet from an Azerbaijan leg which almost set him free in the box, but as he looked to open up the space for the shot, he was closed down and the danger was cleared. Frank Lampard, who had earlier seen his 30-yard thunderbolt palmed over by Hasanzade, had the ball in the net during injury time, though he knew almost before he'd struck that he wouldn't have cause to celebrate - the referee's whistle had penalised Joe Cole for a foul inside the six-yard box. Michael still remains unbeaten in seven games as stand-in skipper, and on the last occasion it was his head again that scored the winner in an all-important qualifier. Shots and chances mean nothing in final tables, and once more a vital Owen goal has given us the win. Now, with only two points dropped from three very tricky away matches, England will go into the winter break in good spirits. When we start up again in March, only the result of tonight's encounter will really mean anything. edited by Guest (17/02/2006) |