England needed a late winner from Chris Smalling to earn a 1-0 victory over 10-man Portugal in their final Euro 2016 warm-up match at Wembley this evening.
The visitors were forced to play the majority of the game with a numerical disadvantage following Bruno Alves's first-half red card, but it took England until the 86th minute to find the breakthrough on a frustrating night for the home side.
© Getty Images
With just four days until his side fly out to their Euro 2016 base in Chantilly, Roy Hodgson named a strong starting XI in a 4-4-2 diamond formation, although Wayne Rooney often drifted up front to turn that into what was effectively a 4-3-3 system.
It was a tactic that forced the likes of Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Dele Alli into wider areas, though, and as a result England struggled to create clear goalscoring chances in the first half.
Portugal also offered very little attacking threat, although they did have the first shot on the night when James Milner gifted the ball straight to Nani, only for the stand-in skipper to blaze his long-range strike into row Z.
An effort on target finally arrived midway through the half when Kyle Walker - England's standout player of the opening 45 minutes - hung a cross up to the back post that Rooney nodded comfortably into the arms of Rui Patricio.
Portugal, who had only scored three goals in seven previous visits to Wembley, created their first hint of a chance shortly before the half-hour mark when Joao Moutinho's free kick was met by Ricardo Carvalho, but the former Chelsea centre-back, who at 38 is set to be the oldest outfield player at this summer's Euros, steered his header off target.
Moments later Danny Rose skewed a first-time effort that Kane could not control in a good position, before another Tottenham man came close when Walker's swerving drive flew narrowly past the post.
The standout moment of the first half arrived with 10 minutes remaining, though, as Portugal were reduced to 10 men when Alves was shown a straight red card for a head-height kung-fu kick on Kane.
© Getty Images
Kane was quickly back on his feet despite the dangerous nature of the challenge, and he almost took advantage of the extra space in attack four minutes later when he collected a pass from Rooney before drawing a save from Patricio with a low strike.
The lethargic nature of the match continued into the second half, and chances became even rarer as England struggled to break down the 10 men of Portugal.
The hosts were limited to a solitary long-range strike from Eric Dier that was easy for Patricio to gather and a Kane free kick that deflected a few yards wide of the target as Fernando Santos's side frustrated their opponents.
Daniel Sturridge came on for his first involvement in England's warm-up games with just over 10 minutes remaining, and he soon had a sight of goal, although once again it came from range as he flashed an effort wide.
Ricardo Quaresma then twisted and turned his way into a shooting position as Portugal made a rare foray into the final third, but the winger curled his subsequent effort wide of the far post from a difficult angle.
The breakthrough finally arrived with four minutes of the match remaining as Smalling scored his first goal for England, glancing Raheem Sterling's cross into the bottom corner after Walker's initial free kick had been punched clear.
© Getty Images
There was a late chance for Portugal to steal a draw when William Carvalho was left unmarked from a corner in the final minute of stoppage time, but he steered his header well off target as England made it three wins from three in their warm-up games despite an unconvincing performance.
It is England's first win over Portugal since 1998, and they will now turn their attentions to their Euro 2016 opener against Russia on June 11. Portugal, meanwhile, take on Estonia next Wednesday before getting their campaign underway against Iceland on June 14.
Barney Corkhill
