England 1-0 Austria: Ten men hold on

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England 1-0 Austria: Ten men hold on
England survived the sending-off of David Beckham to move within one step of the World Cup finals with a 1-0 victory over Austria.
MikeEgerton/Empics
Peter Crouch is thwarted in his attempts to fire over Jurgen Macho in the Austrian goal.
Four years ago, Beckham had hauled England to the 2002 finals against Greece at Old Trafford with his last-gasp free-kick and he again took centre stage.
Frank Lampard took over penalty duties and the Chelsea midfielder converted England's first spot-kick since Euro 2004 after Michael Owen was fouled before Beckham was booked twice in the space of three second-half minutes and was sent off for the second time in an international.
Whether or not his second booking was harsh, the midfielder had already ruled himself out of the final group game against Poland with his fourth caution of the campaign before his second challenge on the same player, defender Andreas Ibertsberger, saw him red carded.
Beckham's departure left England to hold on to a narrow lead for a full half-hour, not only without their captain, but also without Wayne Rooney, whose indiscipline in Belfast last month had led to his own suspension.
Eriksson must at least have been relieved Rooney's replacement, Peter Crouch, rose to the occasion as he strengthened his claims for a place in the squad - if England qualify.
There was also a measure of irony as Rio Ferdinand, who had been unceremoniously dropped from the side, came on to replace the injured Sol Campbell as England managed to stem the late tide of Austrian pressure.
And so they held on - just. However, at this current rate of uncertain progress, there is little cause for genuine optimism ahead of the tournament.
Their record so far this season reads two defeats and two unconvincing 1-0 wins. Even the most accomplished spin doctor would be hard pressed to put a glossy shine on those statistics.
Austria midfielder Markus Kiesenebner had almost caught Paul Robinson by surprise with one crisp early drive, which was tipped over, but there was little other first-half threat by the visitors.
Indeed, with Austria playing just one striker, that solved the problem of Steven Gerrard and Lampard filling the holding role as neither of them needed to.
England were initially driven forward by John Terry, with Joe Cole providing impetus from the left and Beckham, before his dismissal, doing his best on the right.
The fulcrum was, however, undoubtedly Crouch, who produced a succession of astute flicks, through-balls and touches as he almost put through Michael Owen and Luke Young.
When Crouch's flick found Gerrard, he set up Owen, only for Jurgen Macho to parry the ball and, just as Crouch and Beckham were poised to pounce, Rene Aufhauser slid in to clear.
The pressure was building and finally it paid off. Once again, Crouch was at the centre of the move, flicking the ball to Owen, who was held back by Paul Scharner and duly earned a penalty.
Beckham was content to stand and watch as Lampard lined up the spot-kick and promptly drilled his shot past Macho with a minimum of fuss.
Eriksson's side should have had a second penalty, but Andreas Dober's foul on Owen escaped punishment, while Crouch's only fault was his lack of goal threat after eight games without finding the net for Liverpool.
He headed one inviting cross straight at Macho, who also denied Beckham before the break and Owen just after it. But otherwise England started to lose their focus and allowed Austria back into the game.
Young was across quickly to cover just ahead of substitute Yuksel Sariyar but the warning was not heeded.
Just minutes later, only the crossbar enabled England to survive with their lead intact as Terry's weak header was seized upon by Roland Linz, who beat Campbell to the ball but saw his lob rattle the woodwork.
Worse was to follow. Beckham first caught Ibertsberger with his flailing arm and was booked, ruling him out of the Poland game with his fourth booking of the campaign.
Just two minutes later he challenged the same player on the edge of England's area and picked up his second caution of the game and was dismissed.
Beckham shook the full-back's hand before departing but England were now firmly up against it and Eriksson soon removed Cole as he thrust Ledley King into a holding role in midfield.
Another change was needed when Campbell limped off soon afterwards, with Ferdinand's recall coming rather sooner than expected, but still Eriksson retained his two strikers until Kieran Richardson replaced Owen.
It was nervous, even desperate stuff as Kiesenebner smashed a volley just over the bar, while Andreas Ivanshitz's drive was deflected just off-target.
However, with Gerrard rising to the challenge, and Lampard just denied in the final stages and Ferdinand made a vital late header, England held on.

 
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