England held by Montenegro
England's Euro 2012 qualification hopes suffered a setback when they were held to a goalless draw by group leaders Montenegro at a subdued Wembley.
Fabio Capello's side struggled to break down their disciplined opponents and, when they did threaten, goalkeeper Mladen Bozovic twice denied Wayne Rooney.
England were given a late scare when Milan Jovanovic volleyed against Joe Hart's crossbar.
It took no time at all for England to work out there was no clear path through, so they attempted to go long and wide instead. A series of raking Steven Gerrard passes to the touchline released Adam Johnson and Ashley Young, although the end product was lacking.
Had Peter Crouch's legs been just long enough to reach another of those potentially inspired passes, delivered from inside Gerrard's own half, as it bounced into the area, the whole game might have changed. As it was, Crouch was unable to make contact, which at least he was able to do when Glen Johnson curled over a cross from the right, only for the Tottenham man, so prolific for his country, to steer his header over.
Having dropped too deep in that opening period, Gerrard tried to push into a more advanced position. He provided the pass which allowed a previously quiet Rooney to fire a long-range effort over.
Almost an hour had passed before England created a decent chance. It was created for Rooney by Gerrard, who picked his fellow Merseysider out inside the penalty area with a perfectly weighted pass. Rooney was onto it in an instant but Bozovic was equal to his first-time effort and pounced on the loose ball before Crouch could turn it home.
When Young was ruled to have dived trying to win a penalty when he tumbled over Miodrag Dzudovic, it was the trigger for a period of more English frustration as Montenegro stubbornly failed to drift from their one dimensional game plan.
Capello's response was to make Kevin Davies England's oldest debutant since 1950. Davies, predictably, was booked before the end. He also provided Rooney with the neat cushioned header that ended with Bozovic making another fine save to deny the striker.
Capello was reduced to screaming for a penalty when Jovanovic appeared to use an arm to get the ball under control with no-one around him. Jovanovic got away with that one.
