Wayne Rooney fires England to hard-earned win in Estonia

England made it three wins from their opening three European Qualifiers as a Wayne Rooney free-kick gave them victory over Estonia in Tallinn.

Rooney’s 43rd goal for his country, a curler from the edge of the area, settled matters with 15 minutes left of a match the Three Lions dominated throughout.

They had to remain patient when their attacking play failed to break down a stubborn home defence, and it was the captain who put the game to bed after Estonia had been reduced to 10 men early in the second half.

Hodgson made a trio changes to the side that started against San Marino three days ago, with Leighton Baines, Fabian Delph and Adam Lallana coming in for Kieran Gibbs, James Milner and Raheem Sterling.

However, they were nearly undone inside the first minute when the home side attacked quickly on the break through Sergei Zenjov.

England’s defence raced back and Gary Cahill – impressive throughout - was across to cover, but Zenjov cut inside from the left of the box to sneak a shot towards the near post. Fortunately the ball took a nick off Cahill’s boot edging it narrowly wide for a corner.

The Three Lions were soon into their stride, though. Danny Welbeck almost latched onto a dangerous Calum Chambers cross from 12 yards out, while Wayne Rooney caught hold of a defence-splitting pass from Jack Wilshere, but his volley arrowed just over the bar.

Despite operating in his new role at the base of England’s midfield diamond, Wilshere looked to open up the Estonians at any opportunity. 

He linked up well with Rooney, Welbeck and Lallana while Jordan Henderson slotted back to cover.

Their quick passing and rotation in the final third was looking promising, as they tried to pull the home side out of shape at the back, but that final, decisive chance eluded them.

Estonia’s best moments were coming on the counter-attack as they tried to exploit any space they had in England territory with quick passing, but could not get in behind the defence.

In fact, England’s next two chances came on the counter. First Welbeck’s twisting and turning in the area opened up a shot which was somehow turned away. 

Then his Arsenal team-mate Wilshere stole the ball deep into the Estonian half, before bursting into the box, but his right-footed shot went to the wrong side of the upright.

Rooney had another attempt after Delph’s cross on the turn out on the left, but he failed to trouble Sergei Pareiko, then Henderson tried one from range just before the break which the keeper dealt with comfortably.

Like Thursday’s game, England were enjoying much more of the possession, but Estonia were not defending as deep as San Marino, engaging with England further up the pitch. It did mean there was more space to work with around the blue shirts.

England’s cause was helped early in the second half when Estonian skipper Ragnar Klavan was sent off for a second booking after flattening Delph, who was about to surge forward deep in the opposition half.

Hodgson introduce Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Raheem Sterling with just under half an hour left, taking off Delph and Henderson, as he looked for the right combination to unlock the Estonians.

And it was Sterling's trickery on the edge of the box that forced the foul from which Rooney final broke the deadlock on 74 minutes.

The skipper’s precise free-kick 18 yards out curled over the wall and dipped into the net. Pareiko had a hand on the ball but narrowly failed to keep it out.

England kept probing for another, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sterling both looking likely contenders for a second and Rooney was denied by the keeper when clean through, but in the end they had to settle for the one.

And it was the strike that took Rooney to within a goal of England’s third highest goalscorer, Jimmy Greaves, that kept the Three Lions’ perfect start to their qualification campaign intact. 

Estonia (4-1-4-1): 1 Sergei Pareiko; 17 Enar Jaager, 4 Igor Morozov, 15 Ragnar Klavan (captain), 19 Artur Pikk; 18 Karol Mets; 16 Ilja Antonov, 14 Konstantin Vassilijev, 13 Martin Vunk, 10 Sergei Zenjov; 8 Henri Anier.

Substitutes: 2 Joel Lindpere for Vassilijev HT, 11 Henrik Ojamaa for Zenjov 80, 5 Dmitri Kruglov for Vunk 83. 

Substitutes not used: 12 Mihkel Aksalu (GK), 22 Pavel Londak (GK), 3 Alo Barengrub, 20 Gert Kams, 21 Artjom Artjunin, 6 Aleksandr Dimitrijev, 23 Taijo Teniste, 7 Kaimar Saag, 9 Rimo Hunt.

Bookings: Klavan.

Red card: Klavan 49.

Head coach: Magnus Pehrsson.

England (4-3-1-2): 1 Joe Hart (Manchester City); 2 Calum Chambers (Arsenal), 6 Phil Jagielka (Everton), 5 Gary Cahill (Chelsea), 3 Leighton Baines (Everton); 4 Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), 7 Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), 8 Fabian Delph (Aston Villa); 11 Adam Lallana (Liverpool); 10 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United; captain), 9 Danny Welbeck (Arsenal).

Substitutes: 17 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal) for Delph 61, 19 Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) for Henderson 64, 20 Rickie Lambert (Liverpool) for Welbeck 80. 

Substitutes not used: 12 Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton), 13 Ben Foster (West Bromwich Albion; GK), 14 Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), 15 Jonjo Shelvey (Swansea City), 16 James Milner (Manchester City), 18 Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), 21 Fraser Forster (Southampton; GK).

Goals:Rooney 73.

Bookings: Baines, Henderson, Wilshere.

Manager: Roy Hodgson

Referee: Mario Strahonja (Croatia).

Assistant referees: Ante Vucemilovic and Domagoj Vuckov (Croatia).