Fortunate sons

England escapes pressure with 2-1 win on Polish miscue

England's Jermain Defoe puts his shot past Jerzy Dudek in the 37th minute. Ben Radford/Getty Images

CHORZOW, Poland (Reuters) -- England got their World Cup qualifying campaign on track with a 2-1 victory over Poland on Wednesday that will ease the pressure on coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. (Scores and match reports)

Striker Jermain Defoe celebrated his first England start with a superb first goal for his country after 37 minutes, Maciej Zurawski levelled just after the re-start and an own-goal by defender Arkadiusz Glowacki secured the win.

Already unpopular with the British media after Euro 2004, Eriksson came under greater pressure after his team drew 2-2 with Austria in their opening Group Six game on Saturday, squandering a two-goal lead.

They were a lot sharper in the tackle in Chorzow, though, and deserved their victory for stretching a well-disciplined Poland side to breaking point -- thanks largely to an excellent performance from Defoe.

The 21-year-old, who replaced Alan Smith and hit the post in Vienna, was one of two changes from the weekend, with erratic keeper David James, who was to blame for Austria's equaliser, making way for Paul Robinson.

After a slow start, England soon began to find their rhythm against a gritty Poland side who allowed them few scoring chances.

Frank Lampard worked a neat one-two with Defoe and fired in a low shot which Poland's Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek had no difficulty gathering, while Defoe blazed wide after a through-ball from Ashley Cole.

ENGLAND PRESSURE

The hosts replied with a shot from Jacek Krzynowek which prompted a second goalline clearance in two games by John Terry while Robinson did well to stop a near-post effort from Grzegorz Rasiak minutes later.

England's pressure finally paid off in the 37th minute when skipper David Beckham, who had just had a free kick cleared, fed the ball through for Defoe, who turned his marker and smacked a shot past Dudek into the far corner.

Poland should have been level at the break, though, after Sebastian Mila miscued a volley from 10 metres out and then had another effort charged down in a packed area.

There was no mistake just three minutes after the re-start, though, with Zurawski's rising shot into the top right hand corner leaving Robinson with no chance.

England shrugged off the setback and were back in front 10 minutes later when Cole slid in a low ball from the left and Glowacki turned it into his own net under pressure from Michael Owen.

England refused to let up and succeeded in pinning the Poles back into their own half until all but the closing minutes, surviving a muted penalty appeal from Poland to secure three much-needed points.

Relieved Eriksson hails Defoe

CHORZOW, Poland (Reuters) -- England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson hailed striker Jermain Defoe after the youngster helped them to a precious 2-1 victory over Poland in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier.

Defoe, 21, scored his first England goal on a superb first start for his country, before Maciej Zurawski equalised and team mate Arkadiusz Glowacki scored an own goal to hand England victory.

"I'm impressed," Eriksson told a news conference. "He's been very sharp in training this week and he's very hungry.

"He's a big, big, big talent and he will always score goals."

Defoe's strike helped England make amends for Saturday's 2-2 draw in Austria, when they let slip a two-goal lead.

"It was very important to win today after drawing on Saturday, but I like the way we played in both games," Eriksson said.

"We didn't control the whole game tonight because Poland played very well. But we deserved to win on Saturday and we deserved to win today -- and that's a good start to World Cup qualifying.

"I'm very happy. Two away games and four points, that's not bad."

Eriksson dropped keeper David James after a blunder which allowed Austria to equalise in Vienna, but did not go into details.

"It was a difficult decision, it always is when you change goalkeepers," he said.

"I told David James the reasons this morning and I think they should stay between him and me. He was disappointed, but he took it like a man."

As for the media mauling England had faced after Saturday, Eriksson said: "We were criticised a lot, fairly or not fairly. We made some mistakes and played sloppy football for 15 minutes and that cost us two points.

"The only thing we can do against criticism is to try to play good football and win."

Poland manager Pawel Janas, whose team had started with a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland, said: "My boys put a lot of effort into this game.

"We knew we were playing against one of the strongest teams in the world and we fought hard. But overall, England were better today."

Defender Tomasz Rzasa told Polish television: "England's second goal broke our spirit a bit...This defeat saddens us because we had a chance to get off to a flying start.

"Now we will need luck and points from away games."

Unhappy at their recent treatment by the media, England players declined interviews.

Lineups:

Poland -- Jerzy Dudek, Sebastian Mila (Marius Kulieka 63rd), Tomasz Rzasa, Michal Zewlakow, Arkadiusz Glowacki, Jacek Bak, Grzegorz Rasiak (Andrzej Niedzielan 69th), Jacek Krzynowek, Maciej Zurawski, Mariusz Lewandowski, Kamil Kosowski (Damian Gorawski 80th).

England -- Paul Robinson, Gary Neville (Jamie Carragher 31st), John Terry, Lesley King, Ashley Cole, David Beckham (Owen Hargreaves 89th), Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Bridge, Jermain Defoe (Kieron Dyer 87th), Michael Owen.

Referee: Stefano Farina, Italy.

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