England 2 Italy 1: Defoe thunderbolt earns Hodgson's men morale-boosting win

When it was put to Roy Hodgson on the eve of this encounter that only now is he on trial, he sounded slightly aggrieved.
‘I thought I was being judged in the summer,’ he said, and while that was true to an extent he was also cut an awful lot of slack given how little time he had been in charge. The good stuff he was praised for, the less impressive stuff he was forgiven for. He got them organised and he made them difficult to beat, and that amounted to an achievement after 40 days and 40 nights.
Now, though, this is Hodgson’s England, not an England side suddenly inherited from Fabio Capello, and what can be taken from a pre-season friendly on neutral Swiss ground reflected well on the new man in charge. At the beginning of his first full season at the helm, he has made a decent start.

Hot Spur: Jermain Defoe came off the bench to fire a wonderful winner as England beat Italy

Match facts

England: Butland (Ruddy 46), Walker, Cahill, Jagielka (Lescott 61), Baines (Bertrand 78), Carrick, Lampard (Livermore 69), Johnson, Cleverley, Young (Milner 62), Carroll (Defoe 46). Subs not used: Caulker, Rodwell.
Scorers: Jagielka 27, Defoe 79.
Italy: Sirigu, Ogbonna, Abate (Schelotto 86), Balzaretti (Peluso 46), Astori, Aquilani (Poli 68), De Rossi, Nocerino, Destro (Fabbrini 84), Diamanti (Verratti 59), El Shaarawi (Gabbiadini 58). Subs not used: Perin, De Sciglio, Acerbi, Gastaldello, Consigli.
Booked: Fabbrini.
Scorer: De Rossi 15.

Referee: Sascha Kever (Switzerland).
Attendance: 15,000.

On a night when he blooded five new players, Chelsea’s Ryan Bertrand and Tottenham’s Jake Livermore among them, Hodgson secured England’s first win against Italy in 15 years.

It was nothing like the Italy side England ran into in Kiev 52 days earlier; an Italy side that outclassed England before eliminating them from the European Championship on penalties. Cesare Prandelli handed debuts to eight players, with both teams making six substitutions.

But a victory this remains and it was one from which the England manager can take plenty of positives.

He can take some satisfaction in the knowledge that he is now unbeaten in seven games over 90 minutes. Just as he can take credit for the way he approached this contest.

He was far more positive than he had been in Eastern Europe, organising his side in a 4-2-3-1 formation that encouraged the wide players to attack and saw Tom Cleverley impress in that space between central midfield and the striker, in this case Andy Carroll.

First blood: Italy's Daniele De Rossi jumped highest from a corner to hand his side the lead

In the end the the goals came first from Phil Jagielka and then Jermain Defoe, the decisive 79th-minute effort from the latter one that perhaps could have been diverted to safety by Salvatore Sirigu but was still a super strike.

But there were echoes of England’s performance against Germany in Berlin in 2008, this young side playing with the fluency and finesse their senior colleagues too often lacked at the European Championship. They actually retained possession of the ball for more than a few seconds and the occasional pass.

Now let’s not get too excited here. This team would have found it every bit as difficult to prise the ball away from Andrea Pirlo as Steven Gerrard and Co did in June, even if an extra man in midfield might have given them half a chance.

Back in it: Phil Jagielka brilliantly got his head to a corner to put England back on level terms

But we saw why Hodgson wanted Kyle Walker as his right back in Ukraine, and why Leighton Baines pushed Ashley Cole as hard as he did for that left-back berth.

We also saw the benefit of playing those five men in midfield, and the threat that can be posed when players of the quality of Ashley Young and Adam Johnson are encouraged to attack down the flanks.

Cleverley impressed in the centre but so, Hodgson no doubt noted, did Frank Lampard and Michael Carrick, while first opportunities to shine were seized by Jack Butland and John Ruddy. Ruddy made two super second-half saves, first to deny Mattia Destro and then Davide Astori. As a second-half substitute, James Milner also excelled.

Safe hands: Jack Butland became England's youngest debutant goalkeeper for a century

Captain's performance: Frank Lampard was back in England action as skipper having missed Euro 2012

Carroll did not have such a good night, and one can only wonder if the confidence he gained from selection for Euro 2012 has now been lost amid the uncertainty over his Liverpool future. Not being wanted, as seems the case now that Brendan Rodgers is manager, is never a good situation for a footballer.

Behind him Cleverley was quick to respond to the responsibility he was given by Hodgson, while at the very back the youngest goalkeeper in England’s history also started well. When Alessandro Diamanti’s free-kick took a nasty deflection off Baines, Butland made a fine save.

Sadly, however, Italy scored from the resulting corner that Diamanti delivered. A lapse in England’s concentration, not least from Carrick, presented Daniele De Rossi with a free header that Butland was powerless to stop.

Sparse: England fans were in good voice despite the numerous empty seats around the stadium in Berne

Going close: England had plenty of chances to stretch their lead earlier than they eventually did

What would have pleased Hodgson was the way his young side then responded to going behind after only 15 minutes.

Johnson tested Sirigu with a reasonable effort and when Walker and Johnson combined well to win a corner, Jagielka got himself in front of Federico Balzaretti to beat Sirigu with a terrific diving header.
England grew in stature after that. Lampard threatened on two of three occasions, going particularly close with a free-kick that skimmed the roof of Italy’s net.

A free-kick from Milner then nearly ended in a goal. Sirigu spared Federico Peluso the embarrassment of an own goal before Joleon Lescott saw his follow-up effort deflect off the head of Peluso and hit a post.

You again: Italy manager Cesare Prandelli had masterminded England's downfall at Euro 2012

Defoe’s goal capped a fine piece of attacking football that started with a goal-line clearance from Bertrand — his first touch. Milner broke down the left before finding Defoe, the Tottenham striker turning Ignazio Abate on the edge of the box before unleashing a marvellous right-foot shot.

By then Hodgson was only too happy to be judged.