A first-half strike from Ashley Young put England on the brink of Euro 2012 qualification as they beat Wales 1-0 at Wembley on Tuesday.
Young drilled home Stewart Downing’s cross after 35 minutes to secure the three points for Fabio Capello’s team, but it was far from plain sailing against a spirited Welsh side who belied their lowly ranking.
And they could have come away with a point if substitute Robert Earnshaw had not missed an open goal with 10 minutes remaining.
For England, it is a first win in three competitive matches at Wembley and means a draw in Macedonia next month will secure qualification to Euro 2012.
But they will not have been greatly enthused by a performance which, Young and Downing aside, was not very encouraging.
Instead, it is the visitors who will feel the most heartened by their performance which was in complete contrast to their efforts in the 2-0 reverse in Cardiff earlier in qualifying.
However, Gary Speed s side will be upset not to have left with a share of the spoils after frustrating the side ranked fourth in the world for the vast majority of the match.
The visitors were more than holding their own in the early stages and Terry had to make a great sliding challenge on Jack Collison who had made a strong run down the middle and was shaping to shoot.
Despite not offering much of a threat in front of the Wales goal, the home side managed to take the lead after 35 minutes courtesy of Young, although a lot of credit should be given to Downing for the assist.
Moments earlier Milner had gone past Williams on the right and sent in a cross which had been cleared, but when the ball was sent back to the wing, this time to the Liverpool wide-man, he took on and beat Joe Ledley before sending the ball back to Young who was left unmarked in front of a posse of Welsh players and could drill home at the near post.
The away side would not go away in the second half though, and missed a guilt edged chance to equalise through Earnshaw who had only been on the pitch a matter of minutes.
Ramsey’s free-kick was hit back across goal by Blake invitingly to the striker, but a few yards out in front of an open goal he managed to hit his shot over the bar, leaving Wales with nothing to show for their considerable efforts in the match.
Wales travel to Bulgaria next month looking for a consolation win, four days after England hope to secure qualification against Macedonia.
