England’s positive display against Italy left Gareth Southgate satisfied with his side’s penultimate match at Wembley ahead of the World Cup.
A quick free-kick by Jesse Lingard allowed Jamie Vardy to put the Three Lions ahead on 26 minutes.
Lorenzo Insigne levelled from the spot in the dying embers after referee Deniz Aytekin consulted with the video assistant referee following debutant James Tarkowski’s tackle on Federico Chiesa.
But Southgate was pleased with how his side played after a shaky opening.
He said: “England deserved a win. In spells I thought we played well.
“The first five minutes I thought we were sloppy, poor marking from a cross and giving the ball away in our penalty area.
“After that we settled into the game and we probably created more chances than we’ve done in a lot of matches.
“I thought we were a real threat – Raheem [Sterling] and [Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain] running from midfield and Jesse [Lingard], too.
“There were some really good combination plays and we scored a really good goal.
“We just struggled to get out of their high press a bit more than in previous games.”
Goalscorer Vardy added: “I think with the chances we had in the first half we probably deserved better, but in the second half Italy started pushing on and had a few chances themselves so all in all I think it was a fair result.
“It has shown we can defend as a unit and that’s what makes good teams.
“You need to be defending solidly at the back and then the chances with the attack that we’ve got will take care of itself and we’ll see how far we can go.”
England have two more matches before their World Cup opener against Tunisia on Monday 18 June.
The Three Lions entertain Nigeria at Wembley on Saturday 2 June followed by Costa Rica at Elland Road five days later.
Tickets for both matches are available at TheFA.com/Tickets.
