Result – England 3-2 Scotland

It was a night to remember for Rickie Lambert, as England beat Scotland 3-2 at Wembley.

The striker scored the winning goal just two minutes, 45 seconds into his England Debut. The Southampton star scored a brilliant header with his first touch of the ball.

The 30-year-old was very happy with the way in which his England debut went.

Lambert said:

“Thats the way I’ve been dreaming it for probably all my life., it means so much.”

The game itself was a very entertaining one and was definitely the best friendly game that I have seen in a very long time.

The first ten minutes had belonged to England, however it was Scotland who got the opening goal against the run of play.

Theo Walcott failed to clear a Scotland corner and James Morrison was their to capitalise, beating Joe Hart with a shot from outside the box. In all fairness, Hart should have really saved the shot and he will have been disappointed not to have done better.

After the goal, it was Scotland that were in control of the game. The England players looked shaken and were poor when they had the ball.

It took until the 28th minute for England to finally break through the Scottish defence. A great through ball by Tom Cleverley found Walcott down the right wing. The Arsenal winger then ran with the ball into the box, got past a couple of defenders and slotted the ball into the net.

The confidence was back amongst the England players after the goal, with Cleverley and Wayne Rooney coming close.

Rickie Lambert celebrates his debut England goal.

Rooney thought he had put England in front just before the break, but his goal was not given due to him being offside. Replays showed that this was the wrong decision from the linesman.

Scotland started the brighter after the break and found themselves back in front at 49 minutes. Kenny Miller received the ball just inside the area, turned past Gary Cahill and slotted the ball past Hart into the bottom corner.

The lead didn’t last long though as England fought back immediately. A free-kick from Steven Gerrard was headed in by Danny Welbeck.

Tensions were running high with the score at 2-2, with the tackles flying in from both sides. Walcott and Snodgrass soon found themselves in the referee’s book for a bit of pushing and shoving.

The game-changing decision was then made by England manager, Roy Hodgson, as he brought Lambert on for Rooney.

Just two minutes later and England were in front again. A Leighton Baines corner was met by Lambert who scored a brilliant header on his debut.

Lambert himself was proud of his goal:

“Obviously first chance, corner, obviously fancied myself. What a ball by Leighton, exactly where I wished it to go, I managed to get rid of my marker and get a firm header.”

Lambert had a couple more chances towards the end of the game as England looked to seal the win. Lambert latched onto a cross from Wilfred Zaha, but his shot bounced back off the post.

England held on in the closing stages and defended well to secure the victory over their old rivals.