England took another crucial step towards World Cup qualification, but suffered a few scares early in the game.
In the first minute Glen Johnson dithered on the ball allowing Kukeyev to break down the left wing, his tricky cross almost fell for Ostapenko and the loose ball was cleared by John Terry. Kazakhstan also found the net when Ostapenko headed home a lofted free-kick, but he had strayed marginally into an offside position. England toiled for the rest of the half and it seemed as though it might be difficult to break the deadlock. Emile Heskey did hit the inside of the post after a poor clearance from the Kazakh keeper Mokin. A 0-0 half-time score line was imminent until Gareth Barry headed home a Steven Gerrard cross on 35 minutes following a short corner. The lead was doubled just before the break when Gerrard’s impressive attempt to chip the keeper from long range was parried to Heskey, who scored his first goal in a competitive international since 2002.
Kazakhstan’s threat waned in the second period but England failed to develop much attacking fluency. They did manage to score again to inflate the result to a respectable level: Wayne Rooney finished neatly following a good run along the goal-line from Glen Johnson, and Frank Lampard hit home a penalty after Heskey was held in the box.
Fabio Capello did tinker to good effect in the endeavour to obtain some functionality from the side. Just before England scored their first it seemed as though they were playing more of a 4-3-3 with Rooney and Theo Walcott on the wings with Gerrard joining central midfield. In the second-half Gerrard retained a more central role, with Rooney keeping more to the left and substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips filling in on the right. It is perhaps wide-midfield which is the most unsettled area under the current regime. Alternating Rooney and Gerrard on the left has worked well enough, but both are more comfortable through the middle. On the right of midfield, Walcott is yet to establish himself fully following his international breakthrough and injuries may have temporarily stalled his progress.
Six wins from six is an unquestionably decent return and a sound tactical framework is in place which has allowed England to tackle the qualifying fixtures thus far with aplomb. But further advancement is required if they are to be anything more than solid but limited World Cup contenders again.
7 Gerrard: His two assists changed the game.
7 Terry: Despite a few sloppy passes he was England’s most composed performer.6 Green: Not much to do, but some distribution looked nervous
6 Johnson: Early complacency could have been costly, but atoned with a good run which led to Rooney’s goal.
6 Upson: Rattled a little by early pressure but otherwise safe enough
6 A Cole: He did not support the attack very visibly considering his lack of defensive commitments.
6 Barry: Off the pace initially but took a nice headed goal.
6 Lampard: Worked effectively without quite seizing hold of midfield.
6 Walcott: Showed some good bursts of pace but end-product was not realised.
6 Rooney: A quiet night but a well taken goal.
6 Heskey: Worked hard up front, scored and hit a post.5 Wright-Phillips: Looked out of sorts and not much went right for him.