England 3 Scotland 2: Sent homeward, but with little need to think again

Twice they were ahead in a compelling game that was constantly open, entertaining and keenly-contested. James Morrison and Kenny Miller scored goals which were celebrated as explosively as any by a Scotland player for years. England's superiority was not properly reflected by their narrow winning margin, but Gordon Strachan and his team did not come away feeling broken. The second half became a catalogue of desperate escapes and superb goalkeeping by Allan McGregor, but it was not a defeat which stole away all the momentum of the win in Croatia.

Wembley was not full but 80,485 were engrossed by it all and created a racket. England cared enough to "win" the bookings count 3-1, and there was also the fun of a scrum of players getting into a brief shoving match. Will the fixture return regularly? It would be a surprise, after this, if England were not invited to Hampden and willing to accept.

All the rituals were observed: the day-long Tartan Army occupation of Trafalgar Square; the industrial-scale consumption of the bevvy; the mass migration via the underground to Wembley; kilts, saltires and lion rampants everywhere; booing of the England manager and team when their faces were on the big screen; booing when "Three Lions" was played; even louder booing through God Save The Queen. Just to show that England were getting into the spirit of things, Flower of Scotland had been booed, too. A handful of supporters in the English stands had half-and-half England/Scotland scarves, which was a pretty bold gamble by the manufacturers and the Del Boys flogging it.

The theatre was predictable, the game less so. Strachan's gameplan was to try to suffocate the two biggest dangers, Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott. The idea was to surround Rooney with bodies in the centre - namely the two centre-halves, right-back Alan Hutton and midfielders Scott Brown and James Morrison when England attacked - and to have both Steven Whittaker and Robert Snodgrass closing down Walcott on the wing. Walcott brings so much pace to England that Scotland had little option but to defend deep, lest he get in behind them and explode away. Because England had no real left-wing presence, James Forrest was tasked to deal with the attacking runs of left-back Leighton Baines.

The tactics were intelligent and impressive from Strachan and after 11 minutes it yielded more than even he could have dared hope. Scotland won a corner and Shaun Maloney's delivery came off both Danny Welbeck and Walcott to break into a pocket of space for Morrison. In truth his first touch was poor, but he could still advance to rifle a shot through a scrum of England players at Joe Hart. It was firmly hit and flew at the goalkeeper. Hart could not deal with it and it ricocheted off him into the net.

The goal had a predictably galvanising effect on Scotland - Morrison had the cheek to try an audacious shot from even further out - but it had been against the run of early play that soon settled into a rhythm of English pressure. Rooney had narrowly failed to connect with an Baines ball across the goalmouth and then it required an excellent block by Russell Martin to snuff out a chance for Tom Cleverley. The problem Scotland had was that Miller, the lone striker, was not doing enough to close down Gerrard when the England captain started shelling long passes from deep in midfield.

The need to sit back because of Walcott was devastatingly confirmed by England's first equaliser. For once Scotland's defensive line was higher and Tom Cleverley's wonderful through ball put Walcott in behind the exposed Whittaker. The Arsenal man's finishing is erratic but he cut inside and buried a low finish.

Miller's inclusion was bold by Strachan because it was certain to be unpopular. He had not started an international since the friendly in Luxembourg last November and at 33 he is no-one's idea of a long-term option. Supporters hankered to see Leigh Griffiths or Jordan Rhodes instead. As usual, Miller made endless fruitless runs. As usual, much of his evening was spent with absolutely nothing coming off for him. It looked like Strachan would have been better giving Griffiths further exposure. And then, early in the second half, Miller delivered a peach of a goal to vindicate his inclusion. Hutton crossed and, with his back to goal, Miller dropped his shoulder to go left, then instead went right. The shimmy took out Gary Cahill and allowed him room to plant a shot into the corner of Hart's net.

The Tartan Army's batteries had been recharged, but England immediately came again. McGregor spared Martin an own goal and then Gerrard's free-kick sailed over Martin's head to Welbeck, who placed an excellent header into the corner for 2-2. England were in charge, now making chance after chance.

The winner was Rickie Lambert's on his debut. He had been on the pitch for three minutes when he got away from Scott Brown to meet Lampard's corner with a convincing header. Wilfried Zaha almost delivered a fourth and Lambert hit the post. McGregor was under siege. Scotland were grateful for the 11 second half substitutions. Only that interrupted England.