England vs. Slovenia: Top Performers from UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifier
England continued their perfect start to the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Slovenia at Wembley Stadium, taking a commanding lead in Group E with Switzerland and Lithuania yet to play each other.
A dull first half was followed with plenty of action in the last 30 minutes, as the visitors took a shock lead through an own goal from Jordan Henderson.
Wayne Rooney won a penalty and equalised from the spot, capping off his 100th outing for England with his 44th goal, tying Jimmy Greaves on the all-time scoring chart.
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A brace from Danny Welbeck gave the Three Lions the win, their fifth straight in competitive matches, via Squawka:
Here are your top performers from Saturday's fixture.
Nathaniel Clyne
Nathaniel Clyne's England debut wasn't perfect, but it was good enough to end any notion of Glen Johnson being the team's starting right-back. That alone makes him worthy of a spot on this list.
Johnson was a serviceable option in his prime and has become a liability in the past few years, often targeted by fans of England and Liverpool alike. Novelist Jimmy Rice summed up Johnson's current standing with supporters during Liverpool's outing against Chelsea last week:
Southampton defender Clyne has enjoyed a fine Premier League season and was given a chance on Saturday, and he grasped it with both hands. Willing to move upfield without forgetting his defensive duties, he displayed exactly why so many see him as England's best option at the position moving forward.
ITV Football made a keen observation comparing him to Arsenal youngster Calum Chambers, perhaps the team's future at the centre-back position:
He also made the list of top performers from The Telegraph's Matt Law:
Andraz Kirm's only meaningful contribution to the match was providing the free-kick that led to Slovenia's goal, and the winger found little to no success when he went head-to-head with Clyne.
It's just one match, but the 23-year-old did more than enough to earn the starting position in England's next fixture.
Danny Welbeck
The Arsenal man looked out of sorts for 66 minutes before netting twice to hand England the win. As a striker, that's more than enough to land you on this list.
Welbeck's first goal was as opportunistic as they come, forced to stretch out on a bouncing ball and still finding a way to put it past Samir Handanovic. This fan shared the Vine:
England needed that goal, and the 23-year-old delivered. His second came after a brilliant pass from Raheem Sterling, where Welbeck timed his run perfectly before easily slotting home.
Fans can criticise Welbeck all they want (they likely won't after this performance), but the fact remains he's been vital for this Three Lions squad during qualifiers, as shared by ESPN FC:
What's most impressive about his performance is that Welbeck's club form has been spotty at best, scoring just once in his last seven matches, per WhoScored.
Welbeck continues to score and England continue to win. With 11 goals in four matches, Roy Hodgson can be more than excited with his team's offensive output so far.
Wayne Rooney
It was tempting to give the nod to Sterling for his driving runs that ultimately helped break down the Slovenia defence, but the Liverpool youngster didn't really do much for the bulk of the match, exploding in the final 20 minutes.
Instead, we'll go with Rooney, who forced a penalty and converted it himself right after his team conceded a shock goal against a team that had shown very little up until that point.
His 44th goal for England means only Gary Lineker and Sir Bobby Charlton have now scored more for the Three Lions, but he only talked about the team in his post-match interview with ITV, via Manchester United's official website:
"It was a good day in the end. It was tough as they took the lead and we had to show character but it will be good for us. We haven't faced that since the World Cup. It was a great reaction from the players to going behind. It really woke us up.
[...] We've got a good winning mentality. You've seen that after we've gone 1-0 down. We believe we're going to win every game.
It was a special night for me and a great honour to represent England 100 times with hopefully many more to come. To walk out with my two boys was something nobody can take away from me.
"
Often scrutinised for his performances on the international level, you don't become England's third all-time scorer unless you've earned it. Rooney continues to build on a phenomenal career, and at the age of 29, he still has plenty of time left to overtake the few players who remain ahead of him on the list.
