England 1 Belgium 0:

It might be harder to watch England this summer than to beat them. Roy Hodgson’s side did not score highly for artistic impression at Wembley on Saturday but still managed to grind out their fourth 1-0 victory in five internationals. 

On a positive front, Manchester United’s Danny Welbeck scored his first England goal with an excellent finish and is in pole position to start the Euro 2012 opener against France a week tomorrow as a lone striker. 

Duck breaker: Danny Welbeck scored his first international goal to give England the best possible start

MATCH FACTS

ENGLAND: Hart, Johnson, Cahill (Lescott 19), Terry (Jagielka 70), Cole, Milner, Parker, Gerrard (Henderson 83), Oxlade-Chamberlain (Walcott 67), Young (Defoe 66), Welbeck (Rooney 53). Subs not used: Green, Jones, Baines, Downing, Carroll, Butland.

Goals: Welbeck 36.

Booked: Parker

BELGIUM: Mignolet, Guillaume Gillet, Simons, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Hazard, Fellaini, Witsel, Mertens (Lukaku 72), Mirallas (Chadli 59), Dembele. Subs not used: Renard, De Camargo, Pocognoli, Benteke, Vossen, Odoi, Nainggolan, De Ceulaer, Defour.

Booked: Mertens

Referee: Peter Rasmussen (Denmark) 

Attendance: 85,901

Less pleasing were further injury problems to a squad already affected by the withdrawals of injured midfielders Frank Lampard and Gareth Barry. 

Chelsea defender Gary Cahill required a scan on his jaw after being pushed by Belgium’s Dries Mertens into Joe Hart, while John Terry will have a scan after feeling a tight hamstring. It left Hodgson not knowing whether to laugh or cry. 

‘I’m more than satisfied with what the players are giving,’ he said. ‘I am getting closer to knowing the line-up I want to start the game against France.’ 

But of the challenge on Cahill, he added darkly: ‘Unfortunate is too kind a word for it. If you’re a defender, you take very unkindly to a shove like that.’

Belgium provided good opposition for England even if a Mexican wave from a relaxed crowd after 14 minutes underlined this was a friendly.

Concerns: Gary Cahill was forced off early on after being pushed into Joe Hart by Belgium's Dries Mertens

The visitors’ line-up resembled a Premier League all-star XI; Chelsea’s £32million Eden Hazard, Arsenal’s Thomas Vermaelen, soon-to-be-Spurs signing Jan Vertonghen and Everton giant Marouane Fellaini. Manchester City’s Vincent Kompany missed out with injury.

For long periods, Belgium popped the ball around, leaving Scott Parker and Steven Gerrard to chase. When England had possession, they frequently gave it back.

Despite that, the game’s most telling moment came from England after 36 minutes and combined tenacity with quality. Gerrard made a vital interception to rob Fulham’s Mousa Dembele. 

Top Gunner: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was handed his first start for England on the flanks

Ashley Young pounced on the loose ball and fed club-mate Welbeck, who produced a top-class finish, waiting until goalkeeper Simon Mignolet started to fall before dinking the ball over him.

Young has either scored or made 11 of England’s last 20 goals and a delighted Hodgson added: ‘It was a well-fashioned goal. Welbeck showed remarkable calmness. For me, it was the highlight of the game.’

Leading by example: Steven Gerrard continued to lead the team with a typically buccaneering performance

HAZARD WATCH

Five minutes - Makes a bursting run towards the area and his pass leads to a corner.

31mins - Fouled by potential future team-mate Ashley Cole as he continues to move around the final third looking to get more involved.

40mins - Hits a shot from long range that is easily collected by Joe Hart.

61mins - Again fails to test Hart from outside of the box - despite getting his effort on target.

62mins - Slips a neat pass into the feet of Marouane Fellaini who shoots tamely at Hart.

73mins - Loses his footing as he attempts yet another effort from outside of the penalty area.

76mins - Turns provider once more as he picks out substitute Romelu Lukaku in the area but the Chelsea forward's shot is blocked.

82mins - Sends a long-range shot wide.

They may not have deserved it in terms of the game but it seemed poetic justice for Mertens. The spiky PSV player had turned a passive occasion into a grudge match by needlessly shoving Cahill in the back and causing him to fall into Hart, receiving a bang on the jaw and departing in clear pain.

Mertens got a yellow card for his trouble and England were provoked into a response, Glen Johnson was booked for a revenge tackle on Mertens and Parker followed him by going in high on Vertonghen, likely to be his team-mate at Tottenham next season.

Belgium displayed the prettier football, challenging England by playing without an orthodox centreforward, often leaving the mobile Hazard as their most advanced man. 

With Joleon Lescott on for Cahill, it was left to Terry to organise the defence, and his interception to stop Kevin Mirallas running on to Fellaini’s pass was the Chelsea skipper at his best, until he too succumbed 20 minutes from the end when he felt his hamstring tightening.

Just diamond: On Jubilee weekend, Royal lookalikes took their place in the Wembley crowd...

... while English football royalty was also present in the form of former captain David Beckham, Sir Bobby Charlton and Peter Shilton, all of whom were honoured at half-time

Belgium did not do enough with their pretty possession. Hart was a virtual bystander until making saves from Fellaini and Hazard around the hour-mark. Guillaume Gillet clipped a post from 25 yards.

Wayne Rooney was cheered when he came on as a sub but did little. Terry’s reward for limping off was to be jeered by sections of the crowd.

Hawk-Eye on the ball: Goal-line technology was given it's first proper run out the top level

Ashley Cole made a late block to deny Chelsea club-mate Romelu Lukaku an equaliser and was hugged by Hart as a result.

On the break, Jermain Defoe hit a post and then the side-netting. There will be grumbles from purists about the international team resembling Fulham-lite. 

But four of their past five games have been won with clean sheets against decent teams; Spain, Sweden, Norway and Belgium. One-nil to the In-ger-land.

Run out: Despite his suspension, Wayne Rooney was given the chance to sharpen up with a secondp0half appearance

See you soon: Eden Hazard was able to showcase his talent in England ahead of his move to Chelsea