Defoe scores on return as England stay on course

Substitute Jamie Vardy was also on target for Gareth Southgate’s side in a one-sided, dreary victory that kept England top of qualifying Group F with 13 points from five games. 

It was hardly an emphatic peformance against a side ranked 93 places lower than England in the FIFA rankings and Southgate was right to say he would not be eulogising about it. 

He heaped praise, however, on the 34-year-old Defoe who, three and a half years after his last cap, became the sixth oldest player to score for England when he pounced for his 20th international goal in the 21st minute. 

“He was thrilled to be back in the squad and his professionalism has been great for some of the younger players to see,” Southgate told reporters after his first competitive game since being named as full-time manager in November.

After earning plaudits for their bright play in a 1-0 friendly defeat by Germany in midweek, England were expected to rout Lithuania but plodded along for the first 20 minutes, failing to test Ernestas Setkus’s goal despite overwhelming possession. 

It took Defoe, back in an England shirt for the first time since November 2013, to inject some spark. He went close when latching on to Adam Lallana’s clever reverse pass to force a fine save from Setkus. 

Then he fired England ahead with a typically sharp finish after Raheem Sterling’s burst of acceleration down the left saw the Manchester City forward deliver an inviting cut back. 

Defoe then made way for Vardy - with Marcus Rashford replacing Sterling - and the Leicester City striker made an instant impact, scoring with a neat finish from Lallana’s pass.

Jamie Ward took just 90 seconds to score and set Northern Ireland on their way to a 2-0 home win over Norway in their World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park on Sunday to keep the Irish in contention for Russia next year. Conor Washington scored the other goal in the 33rd minute as Northern Ireland moved on to 10 points in Group C, second and five points behind Germany and two ahead of the Czech Republic. 

Germany kept their perfect record with a 4-1 victory over Azerbaijan in the 2018 football World Cup qualifiers.Thanks to Andre Schuerrle’s brace on Sunday, along with goals from Thomas Mueller and Mario Gomez, Group C leaders Germany joined Switzerland as the only two teams with five consecutive wins.