England moved one step closer to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, as a second-half goal from Marcus Rashford gave Gareth Southgate's side a crucial 2-1 win over Slovakia.

The National Stadium was shook early on as Stanislav Lobotka put the visitors ahead after two minutes with a tidy finish, from there England continued to bang on the door to no avail before Eric Dier's equaliser in the 37th minute.

Southgate's side quickly turned the screw from there with good chances for Ryan Bertrand and Rashford, but couldn't add to the scoreline before the break.

The second-half got off to a hectic start with Adam Nemec and Dele Alli coming close, but it was Rashford's excellent effort just before hour mark secured a home comeback and moved them one step closer to Russia next summer.

Putting the cats amongst pigeons

International football returned to Wembley once again and on this rare occasion there was quite a lot riding on a positive result for The Three Lions as defeat to the Slovakians could have left them in a tight spot in qualifying.

Que, 1-0 Slovakia.

After such an excellent individual performance in Friday's 4-0 win over Malta it was poor to see Rashford at fault for the opener, the Manchester United youngster tried to dribble his way out of trouble and was dispossessed in a dangerous area.

Nemec played a great ball over the top which produced an even better touch from Lobotka, who took it down superbly before he coolly slotted it under the arm of Joe Hart.

Finally breaking down the Slovakian defence

After that goal Slovakia didn't look to leave themselves short and invited the pressure from The Three Lions, for the majority of the half they were left frustrated before they found the crucial breakthrough in the 37th minute.

Rashford looked to redeem his earlier mistake with his low corner which caught Ján Kozák napping as Dier made a quick run to the near post.

The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder brilliantly flicked it into the top corner to let out a collective roar of relief from the majority under the Wembley arch.

England didn't let up from there as they looked to take the lead for the first time before the break, Bertrand looked to notch his second international goal in as many games and it was certainly an easier chance than his effort from Friday's win.

The full-back managed to pick the ball inside the area before hitting a sweet effort which forced Martin Dúbravka to punch the effort into the air, Harry Kane was waiting with the follow-up but his header came to nothing.

Rashford looked to complete his redemption with two minutes to play as he cut inside and hit an early shot that looked to have Dúbravka fooled at the near post, but the second-choice keeper did well to push behind.

Going back and forth

England looked to avoid a similar start to the second period to that of the first, but had less to worry about with the visitors seemingly determined to take a point and just a point.

However, they did still have chances, the first of the half in-fact as they produced an excellent piece of play in the 55th minute which saw the ball whipped into the back post, Nemec did well to pull away from his marker and get the shot off but Hart produced a decent save to keep him out.

England then went up the other end and had an opportunity of their own as Kane showed some great skill to cut inside Tomáš Hubočan and drill a shot across the face of goal, the acute angle forced Dúbravka to push it back into danger where Alli was waiting but he couldn't react in time as it bounced off him and behind.

Completing his redemption

Rashford had been looking dangerous and determined throughout to make up for his earlier mistake and was rewarded before the hour mark as he fired home the winner in some style.

It was good play from England as the skipper Jordan Henderson played it through to the youngster, the play off the ball was what stood out as Alli's run opened the space for the 19-year-old to hit it from distance into the far corner of the net.

Slovakia offered little resistance to England's three points after their first-half efforts, the Three Lions holding on for three more points, making it six/six in this particular international break.

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.