Allardyce's England gets a last-gasp lucky break

Not everyone is convinced Sam Allardyce is the right man to lead England but on Sunday's evidence he has fortune on his side, a quality his predecessors have often lacked over the years.

England produced the sort of performance in its opening 2018 World Cup qualifier against Slovakia that cost Allardyce's predecessor, Roy Hodgson, his job on the back of a Euro 2016 campaign that ended in an embarrassing shock defeat by Iceland.

For all its possession, particularly against 10 men when home captain Martin Skrtel was sent off for a stamp on Harry Kane, England lacked the wherewithal to make its dominance pay in a lackluster Group F encounter in Trnava.