England 2-1 Slovenia Friendly Highlights

England continue their winning form as they warmed up for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Croatia on Wednesday with a 2-1 victory over Slovenia at Wembley.

Frank Lampard's disputed first-half penalty, thanks to Wayne Rooney who tumbled too easily (Arsene Wenger will have something to say about such "dishonesty" again), put England on course for the win.

Jermain Defoe then scored the winner by adding a clinical finish to the double he scored against the Netherlands in Amsterdam last month.

However, Zlatan Ljubijankic created panic for England when he took advantage of slack marking to steal in a header after 85 minutes. Fortunately, England held on to record a victory.

Fabio Capello can be comforted by Spurs striker Jermaine Defoe's second-half display, where he maintained his scintillating Premier League and international form by scoring another goal.

Emile Heskey's bustling, unselfish style may still be Capello's preferred option, but Defoe demonstrated that he deserves to be in the starting line-up against Croatia and is currently the best partner for Wayne Rooney.

As for Robert Green, he did himself no favors as England's first-choice goalkeeper in the absence of David James.

He had an eventful start as Slovenia dominated the opening exchanges and surged forward in the dying minutes. Green will need to improve further, else England will suffer at the hands of Croatia.

Overall, Slovenia more than held their own in the early exchanges at Wembley. Fabio Capello will not be entirely satisfied by his team's showing, with too many moments of defensive carelessness.

Being careless against old nemesis Croatia, which shattered England's hopes at Euro 2008, could be disastrous. But I have faith that Capello will put the defensive problems right soon enough.

Check out the highlights of the friendly below.

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