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Terrific England cruise past stubborn Slovenia
Everton defender John Stones scored his first England goal in his first start to help England secure all three points against Slovenia.
After England defeated Finland 2-0 in their previous group game, they headed off to Slovenia to try and make it three wins out of three and look in pole position to win the group.
Hodgson decided to take some in-experienced players to Slovenia to possibly give them a chance at the top level and see how they fair away from home, with John Stones, Raheem Sterling and Steven Caulker going to Slovenia with the squad to possibly get some game-time.
England XI vs Slovenia
(4-3-3)Hart; Walker, Cahill, Stones, Baines; Gerrard(c), Henderson, Milner; Lallana, Sterling, Welbeck.
Subs: Ruddy, Jones, Chamberlain, Sturridge, Caulker, Wilshere, Rodriguez.
Slovenia XI vs England
(3-5-2)Handanovic(c); Maroh, Suler, Andelkovic; Kampl, Ilicic, Kurtic, Saric, Birsa; Matavz, Velikonja.
Subs: Oblak, Bacinovic, Sukalo, Lazarevic, Brecko, Vetrih, Jokic.
Hodgson decided to give John Stones his debut at the heart of England's defence next to the impressive Gary Cahill. He also recalled Steven Gerrard to play in midfield and brought in Milner to also play alongside Gerrard.
Slovenia had one change with Birsa replacing Brecko in midfield after Brecko picked up a little knock during training pre-match, however Birsa has already scored on goal for Slovenia and looks in good form.
First Half
Slovenia kicked off and their wide men advanced which they tried to pick out but the ball was easily cut out by Raheem Sterling and he cushioned it to his Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard who played a pass back to the England debutee John Stones, who took his first touch of ball and passed it forward to Milner who started to build up a good passing sequence.
England started to get a foot-hold in the game with captain Steven Gerrard dominating the midfield in the opening ten minutes, with the Slovenia attacking players struggled to pressure Gerrard as he was easily evading any danger and passing it out to his more advanced team mates.
England created their first chance when James Milner had possession and played a perfectly weighted ball up the field towards Raheem Sterling, and the young winger quickly turned his man and fired a low, powerful shot towards to bottom corner of Handanovic's goal, but the Inter Milan goalkeeper pulled off a smart save to deny England the first goal of the game.
Slovenia created a glorious opportunity themselves as Birsa found Matavz who broke through the England defence and suddenly found himself one-on-one with Joe Hart, but the Slovenian forward looked rather nervous and tried to be clever and chip Joe Hart but the England number one easily caught the ball and played it up field.
England then won a corner which Steven Gerrard went up to take, and he swung it into the far post where John Stones rose up and headed the ball a good 10 yards and the ball looped over Handanovic and hit the back of the net which Stones celebrated happily and was mobbed by his England team mates as he scored on his debut.
England finished off the first half strongly with Danny Welbeck coming really close to scoring England's second as he beat his man and passed the ball to Lallana, who waited for Welbeck's run into the box and picked him out but the United forward put too much power on his shot and the ball blazed just over the crossbar.
The referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the first half, with England leading 1-0.
Second Half
England kicked off the second half and wanted to replicate the first half by dominating the midfield, with Henderson combining well with Gerrard to keep possession as the Slovenians tried to win back possession from an advanced position but were unable to due to Gerrard and Henderson's intelligence and link up play.
Adam Lallana picked up possession from a Kyle Walker 30 yard pass and immediately tried to take on his full back which he got by with ease and he played in a delightful low cross which Welbeck tried to get to but Suler got in the way and cleared the ball out for a corner.
Gerrard took the corner and swung the ball into the area near the goalkeeper which Cahill got a diving header too and made the ball smash against the crossbar and bounce away from the danger zone.
England carried on to dominate the game and kept evading tackles and worked the ball around the pitch well, causing the Slovenians to become frustrated and give away needless free-kicks, which Steven Gerrard went to take and dipped the ball over the wall but the England skipper couldn't best Handanovic as the Inter Milan keeper collected the ball with ease.
England then were able to make it 2-0 as Gerrard found the run of Sterling who got his first touch spot on and was ready to take on his man, he dribbled past his man and moved into the box, he cut inside and fired a shot near post with lots of power and Handanovic got a glove to it but he wasn't strong enough to palm it away and Sterling doubled the lead of England.
England then got a third as Lallana gained possession of the ball, played it to his left towards Milner who looked up and saw Sterling in free space, and the Manchester City midfield expertly picked him out, and Sterling was able to look up and cross the ball into the middle where Danny Welbeck was waiting, and the Manchester United forward struck the ball on the volley and rifled it into the top corner to make it 3-0 England.
Slovenia tried to pull a goal back but John Stones was able to cut out any danger in and around the England box and England held out to gain not only 3 points, but 3 goals and a clean sheet to improve their goal difference in group B.
The match finished England 3, Slovenia 0.
Roy Hodgson's Post Match Comments
"Again the lads performed extremely well out their and fully deserved the victory. We digged in and got ourselves three goals and a clean sheet which I am very happy about. We now look ahead to our next game against Lithuania and we hope that we can get another three points there to make it twelve points out of twelve going into the reverse fixtures."
England debutee and goalscorer John Stones
"I am very proud to get not only my first England cap, but also my first England goal. I am very happy that the gaffer gave me this chance and I hope that this opportunity leads to more in the near future."
