England against Slovakia

England clear and break with Vassell who is taken down cynically by Debnar on the halfway line who gets a yellow card

Time running out for Slovakia but they are threatening to come back, Neville forced to concede a throw in a dangerous, deep area

Late pressure from Slovakia who have possesion in a rare second half foray into the England half but a poor cross give the ball back to the homeside

Vitteck goes down on the halfway line after a heavy tackle by Southgate

Hargreaves tears down the right wing and beats two men before losing out

Scholes and Owen link up well and the ball finds Vassell and Cole unmarked in the penalty area - but it takes an age to drop and Petras gets back to clear

England return the compliment by stringing together some passes of their own to the delight of a releaved stadium

The shell-shocked Slovakians are passing the ball around at the back to try and regain some composure and nullify England who are in their pomp

James comes off his line to smother a half-chance for Vitteck - another sign that the pairing of Upson and Southgate are vulnerable

Southgate cuts out a pass from Debnar as the tempo of the game dips

Minatl has no hope of getting to a Zabavnik cross as the Slovakian's try desperately to attack

Hargreaves and Vassell have played well in the second half and been instrumental in a far better performance by England

A great spell is ended as Hargreaves lashes the ball high and wide - but Owen is clearly firing on all cylinders and up for a hattrick!

Cole races clear having slipped his marker, he fires in a good ball for Owen who connects but Konig is off hisline to save - the ball spoons into the air and Owen heads the loose ball onto the bar

Nemeth tries his luck from distance and its last contribution he is replaced by Lubos Reiter

What a night for England's captain. Just 23 with fifty caps to his name and two goals on the night for Michael Owen - the second a fine header

Gerrard comes inside from the left and cross well to find Owen who heads home after splitting the statuesque central defenders

Goal for Owen - his second of the night!!

The Slovakian team are on the backfoot and unable to cope the waves of England attacks - this time Konig has to race of his line to deny Vassell

Owen flagged offside and the decision is jeered by the England fans

Lampard looks clearly aggreived and rightly so! Meanwhile Zabavnik is off the pitch getting treatment

Lampard sidefooted the ball into the net after a goalmouth scramble and despite two men on the line playing him onside the flag went up. A very bad decision!

England have the ball in the back of the net, but the linesman has his flag up wrongly!!

England are like a different side in this half - another attack and Slovakia's Hanek resorts to a foul - a freekick in a dangerous area on the right!

England have a corner. The ball is fired in and Lampard connects well, but it is over the bar

Sustained pressure from England as Lampard turns his marker and fires in a shot which rolls just wide of the goal

The kick is lofted in towards Southgate at the back post and his shirt is tugged by Vitteck - it should have been a penalty!

Hargreaves is chopped down on the right hand side of the penalty area - Vitteck is booked for protesting. A dangerous position.

The 21st goal of Owen's England career on his 50th appearance for his country

Goal! Owen checks his run up and fires a low shot from the spot to Konig's right post!

Does the England captain lose his balance or is there a leg in there? No matter the ref's made his decision...

Penalty for England! Owen felled in the box!

Vassell tries a shot but he doesn't quite connect fully

Livewire Vassell is already causing problem with his pace

Rooney is subbed for Vassell. A disappointing performance by his own high standard for Rooney - he will have to wait to see if he'll become England's youngest ever scorer

Gerrard tries a shot but it is over the bar with the keeper well off his line - frustration for England

Owen collects the ball and waits for support - he finds Lampard who in turn finds Gerrard who has raced up the pitch

Gerrard launches a ball from deep and finds Owen in space

Substitution for Slovakia, Demo off to be replaced by Marek Mintal

England have a freekick, Hargreaves tries his luck but it cannons of a defender

Owen on the ball in the penalty area, he tries to beat his man but the danger is clear and Slovakia have a man over with another defender out of place for England

Gerrard hoists a very poor ball high over the Slovakian backline, and with no England player there the keeper gathers

Owen ruled offside after reading a Gerrard pass perfectly - the linesman got it wrong this time

Will we see Darius Vassell or Joe Cole introduced to the game soon - the speedy and tricky pair are warming up

Lampard tries to break througth the tight Slovakian defence, but his attempted threaded pass is thrwarted

Scholes takes a long run up and tries to find the net from long range - but the errant drive is wide - and the Manchester Untited star's two year England goal drought will continue

England have a freekick 40 yards out

Gerrard finds himself in space outside the penalty area, but his shot is off target

Zabavnik robs Scholes in the centre of the pitch, but England have it back and push forward

Rooney's pass finds Lampard offside. The Everton striker is down after getting a knock

England kickoff the second half and need a goal - can Rooney or Owen do the business?

England, who are missing important players in Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand and David Beckham, have looked uncomfortable on and off the ball. Players have been caught out of position and have been let down by their first touches.

Owen's first minute chance could have changed the whole feel of this game but Slovakia grew in confidence and exploited England's poor defending and are deservedly in front.

The referee blows for halftime and a chaotic first 45 minutes is brought to an end

Gerrard passes to Hargreave who is in a forward position, he shoots but the ball is deflected and loops safely to Konig between the sticks

Demo fires in a weak shot from outside the penalty area and his furious with himself as he sees the ball trickle out

Phillip Neville, the holding member of the midfield 'diamond', has dropped back and is almost a third central defender

Slovakia's dangerous Janocko fires in a cross but England clear and find Gerrard

Hargreaves has taken Mills right back role, but he slips immeadiatley and Slovakia press

Hargreaves is on and Danny Mills is the man who makes way

The England system is in disarray - Owen Hargreaves is poised to join the game - a tactical change in the first half for England

Chances at either end are coming thick and fast, the England defenders are out of position following an attack which gave Owen another half- chances, Nemeth was in acres of space but his shot flew wide of James' upright

Labant is forced out of the game with an injury - he is replaced by Debnar

Immediately at the other end Owen is in possesion in the Slovakia penalty area, but his first touch was poor forcing him to shoot tamely with his weaker left foot

Suddenly Slovakia break down the left hand flank, a good cross is fired in and the unmarked Demo should have done better - he wastes his shot

England press for the equaliser, Rooney is just unable to get hold of the ball then Owen has a half chance

Rooney drops deep to collect from Lampard

What now for England's 'diamond' formation? It and England have failed to inspire confidence so far - maybe we'll see a change after halftime

England look to get back into the game, Rooney flies in with a rash tackle on the keeper and the Slovakian have a freekick

A great save from James as Hanek connects with the corner - England well and trully under the cosh

Slovakia press forward and win a corner, England look rattled

Janocko fires in a hopeful looking freekick from a left hand position, it fails to connect with any attacker or defender and a clearly foxed James is helpless

Goal for Slovakia!

Mills passes to Gerrard on the right wing who knocks in a good pass only for Miroslav Koing, the Slovakian keeper, to come off his line and punch clear - not very convincingly

Labant fires in a low cross but Upson is on hand to cut out the ball which was aimed at Nemeth

Good play Slovakia hussling the England midfield

Michal Hanek tackles firmly to breakdown a triangular passing move on the halfway line

A good spell for England, from a central position Scholes spreads the ball right to Mills who fires in a deep first-time cross finding Owen, but the captain is unable to connect meaningfully

Rooney sells Lampard short with a pass and the Chelsea midfielder fouls Rastislav Michalik

Labant is off the pitch recieving treatment but he should be fine to carry on

Rooney clatters into Labant and although he won the ball the stadium is shown the youngster's firey side

Offside against Szliard Nemeth from a Vladimir Janocko pass

Slovakian captain Demo latches onto a good square pass on the ground, but his shot flies high and wide of James' goal

Gerrard, Southgate and Upson spread the ball around as England try to take the sting out of Slovakia by keeping possession

England's 'diamond' formation has looked decent when in possesion with a few half chances, but the players have failed to close down Slovakia in the last few minutes leading to a few chances for the visitors

Labant delivers a good left foot cross, but Marian Zeman is judged to have fouled in the penalty area

Freekick for Slovakia after a Mills handball

Owen offside from Cole's cross from the left

The second corner is cleared and Slovakia break only for Cole to collect the ball for England

Schole passes short to Cole before launching a good cross with the outside of his right foot, its out for another corner

England press with Owen collecting a pass from Rooney - he passes to Gerrard who crosses from the right looking for Scholes - corner ball

Cole tries to find Rooney, who was tackled fairly but strongly

A Slovakian freekick from a deep left hand side position comes to naught as James comes off his line to claim the cross

A warning there for England who went to sleep from a throw-in

A great shot by Robert Vittek on the right hand side for Slovakia - the angle was tight and James saved with his body

Igor Demo, the Slovakia captain, puts in a poor throw and Mills clears finding Gerrard in the centre of the pitch

Gareth Southgate puts the ball out as Slovakia build through Vladimir Labant

Mills, Gerrard and Scholes exchange passes in the Slovakian half and conrive a half chance for Owen, but the cross is dealt with

Ashley Cole flagged offside on one of his forward forays

A good spell from Slovakia and a shot comes in from midfield, but it is easily claimed by England's keeper David James

Scholes beats his man in midfield and tries to find the excitnig 17-year-old striker Wayne Rooney, but Michal Hanek clears

The visitors are being penned back into their own half and limited to hopeful langrange passes

A Danny Mills throw finds Owen unmarked in the penalty area, his chipped pass to the back post is poor and Slovakia clear - poor marking by Slovakia

Gerrard whips in a decent ball from the right hand side, but Owen is unable to get hold of it and Slovakia clear

Matthew Upson in possession for England, he passes and finds Ashley Cole as England get a feel of the ball

Danny Mills and Scholes combine to spread play from right to left and England build

Owen caught offside from a Frank Lampard pass

Paul Scholes is muscled off the ball by two Slovakian defenders

Gerrard's corner is headed clear - good start for England, but Owen should have buried the chance but he scuffed his shot

Michael Owen should have scored having latched onto a good ball from Steven Gerrard - corner for England!

Slovakia try to get a feel of the ball early in the game spreading about at the back

Referee Wolfgang Stark of Germany gets the game at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium underway.

Tonight's is the first of Sven-Goran Eriksson's 16 competitive games in charge of the team in which a certain David Beckham has not featured as England's captain. Michael Owen, winning his 50th cap this evening, skippers the side in Beckham's absence.

The stakes are high for this Euro 2004 qualifier. England need a win to try and reclaim leadership of group 7 from Turkey who lead them by two points having played an extra game. While Slovakia need a victory to keep alive their slim hopes of qualification.

The Slovakian team: Konig, Petras, Zeman, Labant, Hanek, Demo, Zabavnik, Michalik, Janocko, Vittek, and Nemeth

England's starting eleven for tonight's match: James, A.Cole, Southgate, Upson, Mills, P.Neville, Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes, Rooney and Owen

Enjoy Soccernet's live coverage as England bid to reclaim top spot in their Euro 2004 qualifying group with victory over Slovakia.

What a night for England's captain. Just 23 with fifty caps to his name and two goals on the night for Michael Owen - the second a fine header

Gerrard comes inside from the left and cross well to find Owen who heads home after splitting the statuesque central defenders

Goal for Owen - his second of the night!!

The Slovakian team are on the backfoot and unable to cope the waves of England attacks - this time Konig has to race of his line to deny Vassell

Owen flagged offside and the decision is jeered by the England fans

Lampard looks clearly aggreived and rightly so! Meanwhile Zabavnik is off the pitch getting treatment

Lampard sidefooted the ball into the net after a goalmouth scramble and despite two men on the line playing him onside the flag went up. A very bad decision!

England have the ball in the back of the net, but the linesman has his flag up wrongly!!

England are like a different side in this half - another attack and Slovakia's Hanek resorts to a foul - a freekick in a dangerous area on the right!

England have a corner. The ball is fired in and Lampard connects well, but it is over the bar

Sustained pressure from England as Lampard turns his marker and fires in a shot which rolls just wide of the goal

The kick is lofted in towards Southgate at the back post and his shirt is tugged by Vitteck - it should have been a penalty!

Hargreaves is chopped down on the right hand side of the penalty area - Vitteck is booked for protesting. A dangerous position.

The 21st goal of Owen's England career on his 50th appearance for his country

Goal! Owen checks his run up and fires a low shot from the spot to Konig's right post!

Does the England captain lose his balance or is there a leg in there? No matter the ref's made his decision...

Penalty for England! Owen felled in the box!

Vassell tries a shot but he doesn't quite connect fully

Livewire Vassell is already causing problem with his pace

Rooney is subbed for Vassell. A disappointing performance by his own high standard for Rooney - he will have to wait to see if he'll become England's youngest ever scorer

Gerrard tries a shot but it is over the bar with the keeper well off his line - frustration for England

Owen collects the ball and waits for support - he finds Lampard who in turn finds Gerrard who has raced up the pitch

Gerrard launches a ball from deep and finds Owen in space

Substitution for Slovakia, Demo off to be replaced by Marek Mintal

England have a freekick, Hargreaves tries his luck but it cannons of a defender

Owen on the ball in the penalty area, he tries to beat his man but the danger is clear and Slovakia have a man over with another defender out of place for England

Gerrard hoists a very poor ball high over the Slovakian backline, and with no England player there the keeper gathers

Owen ruled offside after reading a Gerrard pass perfectly - the linesman got it wrong this time

Will we see Darius Vassell or Joe Cole introduced to the game soon - the speedy and tricky pair are warming up

Lampard tries to break througth the tight Slovakian defence, but his attempted threaded pass is thrwarted

Scholes takes a long run up and tries to find the net from long range - but the errant drive is wide - and the Manchester Untited star's two year England goal drought will continue

England have a freekick 40 yards out

Gerrard finds himself in space outside the penalty area, but his shot is off target

Zabavnik robs Scholes in the centre of the pitch, but England have it back and push forward

Rooney's pass finds Lampard offside. The Everton striker is down after getting a knock

England kickoff the second half and need a goal - can Rooney or Owen do the business?

England, who are missing important players in Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand and David Beckham, have looked uncomfortable on and off the ball. Players have been caught out of position and have been let down by their first touches.

Owen's first minute chance could have changed the whole feel of this game but Slovakia grew in confidence and exploited England's poor defending and are deservedly in front.

The referee blows for halftime and a chaotic first 45 minutes is brought to an end

Gerrard passes to Hargreave who is in a forward position, he shoots but the ball is deflected and loops safely to Konig between the sticks

Demo fires in a weak shot from outside the penalty area and his furious with himself as he sees the ball trickle out

Phillip Neville, the holding member of the midfield 'diamond', has dropped back and is almost a third central defender

Slovakia's dangerous Janocko fires in a cross but England clear and find Gerrard

Hargreaves has taken Mills right back role, but he slips immeadiatley and Slovakia press

Hargreaves is on and Danny Mills is the man who makes way

The England system is in disarray - Owen Hargreaves is poised to join the game - a tactical change in the first half for England

Chances at either end are coming thick and fast, the England defenders are out of position following an attack which gave Owen another half- chances, Nemeth was in acres of space but his shot flew wide of James' upright

Labant is forced out of the game with an injury - he is replaced by Debnar

Immediately at the other end Owen is in possesion in the Slovakia penalty area, but his first touch was poor forcing him to shoot tamely with his weaker left foot

Suddenly Slovakia break down the left hand flank, a good cross is fired in and the unmarked Demo should have done better - he wastes his shot

England press for the equaliser, Rooney is just unable to get hold of the ball then Owen has a half chance

Rooney drops deep to collect from Lampard

What now for England's 'diamond' formation? It and England have failed to inspire confidence so far - maybe we'll see a change after halftime

England look to get back into the game, Rooney flies in with a rash tackle on the keeper and the Slovakian have a freekick

A great save from James as Hanek connects with the corner - England well and trully under the cosh

Slovakia press forward and win a corner, England look rattled

Janocko fires in a hopeful looking freekick from a left hand position, it fails to connect with any attacker or defender and a clearly foxed James is helpless

Goal for Slovakia!

Mills passes to Gerrard on the right wing who knocks in a good pass only for Miroslav Koing, the Slovakian keeper, to come off his line and punch clear - not very convincingly

Labant fires in a low cross but Upson is on hand to cut out the ball which was aimed at Nemeth

Good play Slovakia hussling the England midfield

Michal Hanek tackles firmly to breakdown a triangular passing move on the halfway line

A good spell for England, from a central position Scholes spreads the ball right to Mills who fires in a deep first-time cross finding Owen, but the captain is unable to connect meaningfully

Rooney sells Lampard short with a pass and the Chelsea midfielder fouls Rastislav Michalik

Labant is off the pitch recieving treatment but he should be fine to carry on

Rooney clatters into Labant and although he won the ball the stadium is shown the youngster's firey side

Offside against Szliard Nemeth from a Vladimir Janocko pass

Slovakian captain Demo latches onto a good square pass on the ground, but his shot flies high and wide of James' goal

Gerrard, Southgate and Upson spread the ball around as England try to take the sting out of Slovakia by keeping possession

England's 'diamond' formation has looked decent when in possesion with a few half chances, but the players have failed to close down Slovakia in the last few minutes leading to a few chances for the visitors

Labant delivers a good left foot cross, but Marian Zeman is judged to have fouled in the penalty area

Freekick for Slovakia after a Mills handball

Owen offside from Cole's cross from the left

The second corner is cleared and Slovakia break only for Cole to collect the ball for England

Schole passes short to Cole before launching a good cross with the outside of his right foot, its out for another corner

England press with Owen collecting a pass from Rooney - he passes to Gerrard who crosses from the right looking for Scholes - corner ball

Cole tries to find Rooney, who was tackled fairly but strongly

A Slovakian freekick from a deep left hand side position comes to naught as James comes off his line to claim the cross

A warning there for England who went to sleep from a throw-in

A great shot by Robert Vittek on the right hand side for Slovakia - the angle was tight and James saved with his body

Igor Demo, the Slovakia captain, puts in a poor throw and Mills clears finding Gerrard in the centre of the pitch

Gareth Southgate puts the ball out as Slovakia build through Vladimir Labant

Mills, Gerrard and Scholes exchange passes in the Slovakian half and conrive a half chance for Owen, but the cross is dealt with

Ashley Cole flagged offside on one of his forward forays

A good spell from Slovakia and a shot comes in from midfield, but it is easily claimed by England's keeper David James

Scholes beats his man in midfield and tries to find the excitnig 17-year-old striker Wayne Rooney, but Michal Hanek clears

The visitors are being penned back into their own half and limited to hopeful langrange passes

A Danny Mills throw finds Owen unmarked in the penalty area, his chipped pass to the back post is poor and Slovakia clear - poor marking by Slovakia

Gerrard whips in a decent ball from the right hand side, but Owen is unable to get hold of it and Slovakia clear

Matthew Upson in possession for England, he passes and finds Ashley Cole as England get a feel of the ball

Danny Mills and Scholes combine to spread play from right to left and England build

Owen caught offside from a Frank Lampard pass

Paul Scholes is muscled off the ball by two Slovakian defenders

Gerrard's corner is headed clear - good start for England, but Owen should have buried the chance but he scuffed his shot

Michael Owen should have scored having latched onto a good ball from Steven Gerrard - corner for England!

Slovakia try to get a feel of the ball early in the game spreading about at the back

Referee Wolfgang Stark of Germany gets the game at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium underway.

Tonight's is the first of Sven-Goran Eriksson's 16 competitive games in charge of the team in which a certain David Beckham has not featured as England's captain. Michael Owen, winning his 50th cap this evening, skippers the side in Beckham's absence.

The stakes are high for this Euro 2004 qualifier. England need a win to try and reclaim leadership of group 7 from Turkey who lead them by two points having played an extra game. While Slovakia need a victory to keep alive their slim hopes of qualification.

The Slovakian team: Konig, Petras, Zeman, Labant, Hanek, Demo, Zabavnik, Michalik, Janocko, Vittek, and Nemeth

England's starting eleven for tonight's match: James, A.Cole, Southgate, Upson, Mills, P.Neville, Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes, Rooney and Owen

Enjoy Soccernet's live coverage as England bid to reclaim top spot in their Euro 2004 qualifying group with victory over Slovakia.