England's recent resurgence continued to an extent with a somewhat uninspiring friendly draw away to Italy at a half-empty Juventus Stadium.
Southampton's misfiring forward Graziano Pellè headed the hosts into a first-half lead with half an hour played, but substitute Andros Townsend arrowed in a superb strike late on to claim the draw.
Harry Kane performed reasonably well against a formidable Italian back-line, while his Spurs teammate Ryan Mason came on in the second half to make his first international appearance at any age level.
The first half began in admittedly muted fashion, with Italy controlling the ball and sitting deep and England unable to do anything to hurt them. Veteran centre-half Giorgio Chiellini welcomed Kane to the international stage with a clattering challenge in the opening seconds, but otherwise the opening half hour was a fairly drab affair.
Marco Parolo stung Joe Hart's hands with a dipping shot from outside the area before Éder's free kick drifted comically wide towards the corner flag, but it was the Italians who forged the better chances in the opening 45 minutes.
That said, the Three Lions did create some opportunities, and could have taken the lead with 20 minutes played. Kane's back-post knockdown from Kieron Gibbs' deep cross could have fallen to anyone and while it was partially cleared, it fell to Wayne Rooney at the edge of the area. His half-volley took a deflection and looped over the stranded Gianluigi Buffon, but cannonned back off the underside of the crossbar.
Minutes later, a superb cross-field pass from Rooney - England's most creative player, though he had little competition for the crown - dropped perfectly for the largely anonymous Theo Walcott, who cut back inside his defender but saw his shot deflected into the grateful arms of Buffon.
However, the hosts took the lead with just under half an hour played. An Italian corner was never properly cleared, and fell to Chiellini on the left side of the area. The 6'2", left-footed centre half easily dribbled his way past Phil Jones and delivered a cute right-footed cross onto the head of the unmarked Pellè, who glanced a header past Joe Hart and just inside the far post.
Neither side really threatened for the rest of the first half, though Italy remained menacing from sit-piece situations. England's narrow diamond midfield was clearly not doing the business against the Italians who packed the centre of the pitch with five midfielders and three centre-halves, though Roy Hodgson's task was not made any easier as Chris Smalling was forced off by injury on the stroke of half-time to be replaced by his Manchester United teammate Michael Carrick.
The second half began in more open fashion, with Pellè conspiring to shoot wide after Éder's shot was saved by Hart but not cleared. Just after, Kane had his first real sniff of goal of the night, but his powerful low drive was deflected into the side-netting.
Possibly England's best move of the night came with fewer than 10 minutes of the second half played, as good hold-up play by first Kane, then Rooney saw Gibbs released down the left, but his attempt to guide a shot into the bottom corner saw the ball drift feebly past Buffon's near post.
England improved marginally with the introductions of Kyle Walker and Ross Barkley in the early stages of the second half, but for all their probing and passing they struggled to create clear-cut chances in the face of a rock-solid Italian rearguard.
Palermo midfielder Franco Vázquez, linked with a move away from the Serie A club this summer, was brought on by Italy boss Antonio Conte and his first touch almost proved decisive as fellow substitute Ciro Immobile latched onto his pass inside the penalty area, but some last-ditch English defending saw the ball cleared away.
England threatened to break away soon after as Barkley brought the ball forward down the right but, with Kane and Rooney making runs through the centre, the Everton youngster kept his head down and was eventually tackled by Chiellini.
PSG's Marco Verratti was brought on and was another to almost make an instant impact on the game, dinking a delicate pass over the England defence towards Immobile, but Phil Jagielka managed an acrobatic clearance at the crucial moment.
With 20 minutes to play, England's captain had two good sights of goal. First, a hopeful ball over the top evaded Chiellini but Rooney's powerful half volley was arrowed straight at Buffon who palmed away, before he touched Kane's low delivery across the face of goal and wide.
Following Kane's goalscoring introduction against Lithuania at Wembley, Tottenham soon had their second England debutant in the space of a week as Ryan Mason replaced Jordan Henderson. However, by this point the flow of the game was being seriously affected by a constant of replacement by both sides, and the spectacle suffered as a result.
However, with ten minutes to play, England's inspiration came from a perhaps unlikely source. Andros Townsend had barely touched the ball since coming on but continued his excellent international form, picking the ball up in some pace at the edge of the area before unleashing a fearsome right-footed strike across Buffon and into the far corner.
The hosts threatened an instante riposte, despite England finally starting to assert some dominance on the game. Substitute Luca Antonelli flicked a shot past Hart but fractionally wide of goal after some intricate team play at the edge of the area, but the resulting corner almost led to a second for England. Townsend broke away and sprinted the length of the left wing before clipping a low ball in towards Rooney, but it was inadvertently deflected into the arms of Buffon by a stumbling Ignazio Abate.
The closing moments of the match promised little but, with two minutes of stoppage time played, Kane almost completed his fairytale. Barkley's initial foray forward broke down, but the ball fell to Kane some distance out to England's right. The Spurs forward struck his half-volley sweetly and, though it threatened to sneak past Buffon at his bottom corner, the Juventus keeper on his home ground watched the ball carefully into his arms.