There was frustration for Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson and Daniel Sturridge while Daniel Agger found the back of the net on a busy night of international football on Tuesday.
Gerrard and Johnson started England’s World Cup 2014 qualifier with Montenegro at the Podgorica City stadium — with Sturridge an unused substitute — and the Three Lions made a dream start to the Group H clash.
Indeed, Gerrard provided the corner for Wayne Rooney to head in a sixth-minute opener as the visitors dominated the first 45 minutes.
However, Montenegro was much improved after the break and duly equalized through Dejan Damjanovic with 14 minutes remaining to clinch a 1-1 draw and ensure they remained two points clear at the top of the group.
Afterwards, captain Gerrard reflected: “We stopped playing after the break for 20-30 minutes and away from home you can’t afford to do that. We stopped passing the ball and that’s when we lost control. They deserved the equalizer.”
Meanwhile in Group B, Agger rescued a point for Denmark at home to Bulgaria.
Having fallen behind to a goal from Stanislav Manolev just after half-time, the Liverpool center-back blasted home a penalty to salvage a 1-1 draw — though it doesn’t do much for the Dane’s hopes of qualifying for the finals as they’re now seven points off leaders Italy.
Over in Paris, Pepe Reina was an unused substitute as reigning champions Spain recorded a 1-0 win over France.
Elsewhere, Martin Skrtel figured for the first half as Slovakia and Sweden played out a goalless draw in an international friendly.
