England made it six successive wins - their best-ever run under Sven - with a performance that improved the longer the game went on.

Although England started quickly and scored early on, Croatia's threatened consistently during a first half when their fluid attacking play might have paid greater dividends.

On his first England appearance as a Real Madrid player it was captain David Beckham who gave England the lead. His own drifted centre to Michael Owen caused panic in the visitors' defence, forcing Josip Simunic into a blatant handball.

Becks converted the spot-kick with a powerful low strike, almost identical to his effort against Turkey.

The England fans gave a huge roar from the terraces and applauded their returning hero. The skipper was clearly delighted too, celebrating his eleventh goal in 24 starts under Sven. Any striker would be happy with that record at international level, never mind a midfielder.

Croatia, dangerous opponents on the break, were in no mood to allow England to build on the early goal. First, they carved out a clear opening for Rapaic, who spurned the opportunity with a misguided header at the far post.

Niko Kovac came a little closer with his own free header from a corner on the half hour before David James was forced to produce a reflex save from Maric and then dive at the feet of Olic in the space of two frenzied minutes.

Amid the storm, John Terry, on his first England start, looked composed and confident. His growing presence around the camp was reflected in Sven's decision to give him the full 90 minutes and a taste of the captaincy while his one-touch distribution makes him a natural player at international level.

The deftly skilled Olic, Croatia's main inspiration, fired another cracking effort at David James just before half-time to give Sven something to talk about during the break.

Whatever he said certainly did the trick as England had a second goal within six minutes of the re-start. David Beckham produced a trademark outstanding deep cross to locate Michael Owen. England's goal machine rose to power the ball home. It was never in doubt.

As the game wore on, Croatia tired and England grew stronger. Sven freshened things up and his team responded with increased levels of energy, skill and ambition.

Ipswich-bred Kieron Dyer got a rapturous reception from the Portman Road faithful and produced a performance full of pace and intelligent running. His fellow substitute Joe Cole almost topped his fine free-kick against Serbia and Montenegro with a bewitching run and shot that somehow skidded wide.

Ironically, it was during England's best phase of the game that the visitors got their goal when Ivica Mornar bundled a loose ball home past Paul Robinson.

England replied in the best way possible - with a wonderful goal. Wayne Bridge galloped down the left and pulled the ball back for Dyer who, in turn, rolled the ball into Beattie's feet. The Southampton man laid the ball off for Frank Lampard who fairly rifled his strike into to the top left-hand corner of the net from 25 yards out.

The Chelsea midfielder has matured hugely over the past two years. If he was disappointed to drop to the bench having played so well against Slovakia, this was by far the most eloquent way of pressing his claim for a start against Macedonia next month.

That double header in Skopje and at Old Trafford will go a long way to sealing England's qualifying fate for Euro 2004. Lets hope we can keep the winning run going.

Report by Dan Freedman at Portman Road

Teams

England: David James (Paul Robinson, 45); Phil Neville (Danny Mills, 81), Ashley Cole (Wayne Bridge, 60), Steven Gerrard (Danny Murphy, 81), Rio Ferdinand (Matthew Upson, 60), John Terry, David Beckham (c) (Trevor Sinclair 60), Paul Scholes (Joe Cole, 60), Emile Heskey (James Beattie, 76), Michael Owen (Kieron Dyer, 60), Nicky Butt (Frank Lampard, 27)

Croatia: Stipe Pletikosa (Tomislav Butina, 70), Dario Simic (Marko Babic, 45), Josip Simunic (Anthony Seric, 72), Stjepan Tomas, Robert Kovac, Boris Zivkovic (c) (Jasmin Agic, 72), Milan Rapaic (Ivica Mornar, 45), Jerko Leko (Dovani Rosso, 60), Marijo Maric (Darijo Srna, 45), Niko Kovac, Ivica Olic

Referee: Claus Bo Larsen (Denmark)
Assistant Referees: Finn Erik Rasmussen & Ole Hansen (Denmark)
Fourth Official: Barry Knight (England)
Attendance: 28,700

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