Slovenia 0 England 0: Joe Hart spares Gareth Southgate's blushes in tough draw after Wayne Rooney omission

James Olley12 October 2016

England were indebted to goalkeeper Joe Hart for a string of fine saves as Gareth Southgate’s side laboured to a 0-0 2018 World Cup qualifying draw against Slovenia.

The visitors remain unbeaten in 32 qualifying matches dating back seven years but that record was severely tested here at the Stadion Stozice as Slovenia forced Hart into action on several occasions in a spirited display by a team ranked 67th in the world by FIFA.

Wayne Rooney’s omission dominated the build-up but England’s midfield pairing of Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson were unable to provide the solidity Southgate had hoped for prior to kick-off.

Hart has faced a difficult few months after joining Serie A side Torino on loan having been deemed surplus to requirements at Manchester City but this performance will help re-establish his credentials after a poor Euro 2016 campaign.

England remain unbeaten in their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign but the result leaves Southgate with plenty to ponder ahead of matches against Scotland and Spain next month.

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The travelling fans showed their support by cheering his name during the warm-up and as early as the second minute of a contest in which England made a bright start.

Dele Alli, operating in the number ten role, linked up quickly with Daniel Sturridge, feeding the Liverpool striker for a run at goal but his first touch was heavy and Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak was able to rush out and divert the ball behind for a corner.

Southgate had clearly instructed his players to build from the back but John Stones, Henderson – captain for the evening – and Dier all gave the ball away in the opening 10 minutes, the latter causing the greatest moment of danger.

Under minimal pressure, Dier sought to play a pass back to Joe Hart but Roman Bezjak read his intention and intercepted. Bezjak bore down on goal but Hart raced off his line to make a superb smothering save.

However, the loose ball fell to Benjamin Verbic, who fed Bezjak once again as panic spread in England’s defence. Dier managed to tackle Bezjak but once again the ball found an opponent, this time Jasmin Kurtic sought to benefit, cutting in on his right foot and unleashing a curling effort which beat Hart but came back off the post.

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England recovered their composure with Stones growing in authority as the half wore on. Sturridge wanted a penalty after a fabulous turn freed him up only to be bundled over in the box by Rene Krhin but German referee Deniz Aytekin was unmoved.

Walcott fizzed a 23rd-minute shot over before Gary Cahill had a shot deflected wide but England were unable to find any consistent cohesion with the attacking trio of Jesse Lingard, Alli and Walcott not coming to the ball often enough to help link up play.

Slovenia came perilously close to taking the lead moments after the restart. Josip Ilicic created an opening in the box after an excellent one-two with Valter Birsa but his square pass could not find a team-mate and Walcott hacked the ball behind for a corner.

Hart was called into action to turn Bostjan Cesar’s effort behind but his save from the following corner was phenomenal. Kurtic flicked the ball goalwards at pace but Hart somehow clawed the ball out with the aid of the crossbar.

Kurtic then fired inches wide from the edge of the box shortly before the hour mark after outmuscling Stones. England needed some fresh impetus and Southgate opted to replace Walcott with Andros Townsend; the Crystal Palace winger immediately tried his luck from 20 yards but Oblak was equal to it.

In pictures: Slovenia vs England

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England continued to undermine their performance with wasteful passing and another underhit ball from Henderson allowed Ilicic to nip past Cahill and test Hart but once again England’s number one was equal to it.

Southgate waited until 17 minutes from time to introduce Rooney – wearing No.18 –as he replaced Alli and took the armband from Henderson.

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Rooney attempted to pull the strings but England’s best chance of the half came from an unlikely source – Cahill played a raking forward pass to Rose, who controlled it first time and cut inside on his right foot but he dragged his effort wide.

Rooney curled a shot off target from the edge of the box before Marcus Rashford came on for Sturridge and Lingard forced Oblak into his best save of the night.

Cahill was booked for a late tackle which triggered a melee involving Aljaz Struna and Lingard but once tempers died down, England were left to reflect on another underwhelming display bereft of the late winner they managed in Slovakia last month.

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