Jesse Lingard scored his first England goal to help his side to a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands at the Amsterdam ArenA this evening.
The Three Lions ensured that their World Cup year got off to a winning start when Lingard tucked away the only goal of the game shortly before the hour mark, handing manager Gareth Southgate his first friendly victory in charge of the team and England's first win over the Netherlands since Euro 1996.
The result also ensures that Ronald Koeman's Netherlands reign begins with defeat as the Dutch - who failed to qualify for this summer's World Cup - saw a five-game winning streak come to an end.
© Offside
Southgate named an experimental starting lineup despite having just four games remaining until the World Cup, with Kyle Walker included as part of a back three and Marcus Rashford leading the line in the absence of the injured Harry Kane.
It was the visitors who made the brighter start to the match too, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain drawing the first save from Jeroen Zoet after only eight minutes when the Dutch keeper did well to hold on to a powerful drive.
England were struck with an early blow when Oxlade-Chamberlain's Liverpool teammate Joe Gomez was forced off in the 10th minute, though, with Harry Maguire replacing the youngster in the back three.
Clear chances were at a premium for both sides during the opening 45 minutes, but England continued to enjoy the lion's share of possession and Lingard did have a sight of goal in the 17th minute when he dragged an effort wide from the edge of the box following good work from Raheem Sterling.
It wasn't until midway through the first half that Jordan Pickford had his first chance to show why he was selected ahead of three other goalkeepers in the England squad, although his save from a long-range Matthijs de Ligt strike was comfortable.
A loose touch from Quincy Promes saw another good opening go begging for the home side as Pickford smothered the ball at the feet of the winger, before Maguire was similarly wasteful at the other end, failing to make the most of a yard of space inside the area having been found by Danny Rose's corner.
England captain Jordan Henderson was the most influential player in the opening 45 minutes, and he also came closest to breaking the deadlock when his flicked header skimmed just past the far post, with Rashford not far away from turning it in from close range.
Holland's best chance of the first half also came via a set piece when Bas Dost latched on to a corner but could not keep his header down when Pickford had left himself in no-man's land by initially coming for the ball only to then change his mind.
A late strike from Memphis Depay forced Pickford into a save with virtually the final action of the first half, meaning that England went into the break having registered fewer shots on target than the hosts despite enjoying 54% of the possession.
Netherlands had the ball in the back of the net five minutes after the restart too when De Ligt turned it home at the second attempt, but the whistle had already gone after Depay had failed to keep the ball in before delivering the cross.
Whereas that was a fairly straightforward decision for referee Jesus Gil, the Spaniard turned down a clear penalty for England at the other end moments later when Rashford was brought down by De Ligt after beating the Dutch defender and goalkeeper Zoen to the ball inside the box.
The injustice appeared to fire England up, and Rashford saw one strike deflect wide before Sterling and Henderson got in each other's way from close range after Maguire had nodded the resulting corner into a dangerous area.
The breakthrough did finally arrive shortly before the hour mark when a flowing team move started with Pickford and ended with a low Rose cross only being cleared as far as Lingard, who tucked his finish past Zoet from the edge of the area for his first England goal.
Netherlands responded well to that setback, though, and almost produced an immediate response when first Promes saw a shot deflected over before Dost failed to generate enough power on his inventive flick to truly trouble Pickford.
It only proved to be a brief fightback from the hosts, though, and it was England who came closest to adding another before the end of the match when a fierce drive from Kieran Trippier needed to be parried away by Zoet seven minutes from time.
There were not any serious scares for Southgate's visitors as they comfortably saw the game out for a deserved victory, and they will now turn their attention to Tuesday's friendly with Italy, which will be their final outing before Southgate names his squad for the World Cup in May.
Koeman, meanwhile, is left to begin a substantial rebuilding job with Netherlands following their failure to qualify for the past two major tournaments, and they will take on Portugal on Monday in an effort to return to winning ways.
NETHERLANDS (3-4-3): Zoet; De Ligt, De Vrij (Weghorst 89'), Van Dijk; Hateboer, Wijnaldum, Strootman (Van de Beek 90'), Van Aanholt; Promes (Propper 66'), Dost (Babel 66'); Memphis
ENGLAND (3-5-2): Pickford; Walker, Stones, Gomez (Maguire 10', Dier 89'); Trippier, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, Lingard (Alli 68'), Rose (Young 71'); Rashford (Vardy 68'), Sterling (Welbeck 68')
Barney Corkhill
