England are well on their way to an important win in Podgorica after Wayne Rooney's header put them 1-0 up early in the first half.
Montenegro vs. England: Half-time score 0-1, Wayne Rooney has Three Lions ahead
The Manchester United striker had shown his danger early on when, with Vladimir Bozovic off his line, Rooney tried a driven lob which caught out the Montenegrin keeper but smacked off the post. Shortly after, England were ahead anyway. Glen Johnson's long-range effort was tipped away for a corner, and Steven Gerrard's delivery found the lively Rooney in the area, who escaped his marker to glance a header in and give England an early lead.
Montenegro were struggling to get into the game, and it was the visitors who looked more likely to get the second goal. Rooney almost combined with his United teammate to produce it midway through the half, but his deep cross was a fraction too high for the onrushing Welbeck, whose movement had been causing problems all afternoon.
England were easily getting down the flanks, although the central defence of the hosts was largely dealing with most of the crosses coming in. Welbeck's half was to end on a sour note however, with the striker booked for diving after appearing to go down under Stefan Savic's challenge in the area as he got on the end of a long ball.
That leaves England in a fine position and nicely set up for the second half, and although Montenegro are far from out of the game, they will need to step things up a level if they want to gain a result.
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