England 2 Lithuania 0: Jermain Defoe scores first international goal in four years as Three Lions breeze through home win

JERMAIN DEFOE scored his first international goal in four years as Three Lions breeze past Lithuania at Wembley.

England huffed and puffed for the opening 20 minutes before Defoe rolled back the years to score his first goal since March 2013 in an 8-0 win against San Marino.

Raheem Sterling produced some good work down the left against the team ranked 107 in the world, running into the box and crossing low for Defoe to smash home from close range.

The game settled down into its familiar rhythm as England had all of the possession without really troubling the Lithuania goal.

But just before half-time, in the rarest of forays into England's half, the visitors nearly equalised when despite being a mile offside, Vykintas Slivka headed the ball over an onrushing Joe Hart - only for John Stones to hook it off the line.

Sterling had a golden chance to extend England's lead just after half-time - but from Ryan Bertrand's superb low cross, he got the ball stuck under his feet from yards out.

The second goal was coming however, and it came courtesy of Jamie Vardy, who slotted home from Adam Lallana's sumptuous flick on the edge of the box.

That was it in terms of goalmouth action as Gareth Southgate extended their lead at the top of Group F.

FACTS, STATS, GOALS & LOLS

• The Wembley announcer is over-the-top and quite embarrassing. Despite shouting the names of England’s players with ridiculous excitement, Raheem Sterling was still booed.
• Before the game, there was a minute’s silence for the victims of the London attacks. It was observed without any problems and the fans were also respectful for the Lithuanian national anthem. It was a big difference to Wednesday in Dortmund when some of the England fans were a disgrace.

• Lithuania were given an official allocation of 800 but had about 2000 fans inside the ground.
• This is not just one for England fans but also supporters of Spurs and Chelsea who will call Wembley their home in the coming seasons. The parking around Wembley is now a complete mess and it will not get any better. Part of the biggest car park next to the stadium is a building site as the entire area is being turned into flats. So the FA spent nearly £1billion on a stadium and just 10 years later, the main car park becomes housing. What a joke.

• It took 20 minutes for a decent effort on goal and it was from Jermain Defoe yet his effort was saved by Ernestas Setkus. But just a minute later, Defoe got his 20th international goal following a square pass from Sterling. Dele Alli was also ready to pounce but Defoe was never going to let the youngster get anywhere near the ball. It was Defoe’s first England goal for four years and four days.

• John Stones hacked the ball clear after Nerijus Valskis beat Joe Hart to the ball just before half-time. A goal would have been controversial as Valskis was offside by a mile.
• There was no Manchester United player in the starting line-up. This is certainly a sign of the times. Marcus Rashford gave the club some representation when he came on for Sterling on the hour.
• Lithuania are ranked at 107 in the world and just came to defend. When Jamie Vardy scored the second, the visitors had eight players either inside or on the edge of the area.

• It may not have been the most attractive of fixtures but the attendance was still 77,690. Absolutely amazing.
• England have now played five qualifying games and have yet to concede a goal – but no-one should kid themselves. There is still a hell of a lot of work to do.

BIG PICTURE

SOCIAL SAYS

WHAT THEY SAID

England striker Jermain Defoe: "It's good to be back. Just to win the game was important and we did that. It's hard to put in words really to be back.

"I had to keep my emotions in at the beginning with little Bradley Lowery with me. You can imagine how I felt doing that having done it with my club as well. Just to be back playing with the lads felt good."

"Obviously I've got to go back to my club and make sure we finish the season strong. Like I've always done, I'll keep my head down and see what happens."