SVEN-GÖRAN ERIKSSON had said that he would be happy with a one-goal victory, but the England head coach would have been a brave man last night to claim that this latest step on the road to the 2006 World Cup finals exceeded his, or anyone else’s, expectations.

The sense that England had nothing to gain apart from three points was reinforced when, to the incredulity of Gary Neville, the players were jeered off at half-time, with the match goalless. Perhaps acknowledging that they had been unfair in expecting a massacre to be served up on demand, St James’ Park was generous in its applause at the final whistle.

David Beckham was one of those to milk the acclaim and, along with Wayne Rooney, he could be particularly pleased with his night’s work. Less so Michael Owen, who will struggle to remember a more trying night in the England shirt.

Stung by criticism of his ordinary performance against Northern Ireland, Beckham set about justifying his head coach’s public backing. Far more urgent than on Saturday, the captain obeyed orders by scampering up and down the right wing rather than constantly meandering inside.

He was so eager that he was booked shortly before half-time for coming back on to the field without permission, and with one of his boots off, after receiving treatment. He had, of course, missed the trip to wintry Baku because of his infamous yellow card against Wales, but he seemed happy enough to brave a filthy night in Newcastle.

A deluge before kick-off was not followed by the one that a full house had expected. As at Old Trafford on Saturday, England went in at half-time wondering how they had failed to score four or five.

They had twice struck the same post, once from close range after a ricochet off Beckham and when Frank Lampard’s 22-yard drive hit the outside of an upright. If anyone was blaming themselves for the failure to score an early goal, it would have been Owen, who could have gone a long way towards matching Sir Bobby Charlton’s goalscoring record of 49 for England on first-half chances alone.

Foiled by one fine save from Dmitry Kramarenko, Azerbaijan’s overworked goalkeeper, the Real Madrid forward will have cringed at his failure to add to his 29 international goals in the nineteenth minute, when Joe Cole’s cross found him unmarked. After the talk about overtaking Alan Shearer in the scoring charts, nothing fell for Owen and he was booked for flapping at a cross with a hand. He will miss the qualifying match in Cardiff.

Owen was not the only player who was frustrated by the blue defensive blanket. So impressive on Saturday, when he was rashly hailed as the answer to the eternal problem of the left flank, Joe Cole was finding it harder to find room to manoeuvre last night. He had overshadowed Beckham at Old Trafford, but here the roles were reversed.

John Terry, who would have been desperate to impress, given the competition for places in central defence, was another Chelsea player who was not finding life quite so comfortable. One moment’s sloppiness allowed Gurban Gurbanov, the Azerbaijan No 9, a chance to run through and shoot at goal early on. When the effort drifted a foot wide of a post, Terry was a relieved man.

The crowd let England know what they thought by jeering Eriksson’s team as they left the field at the interval. It was a ludicrously harsh judgment, reflecting expectations of an eight-goal thrashing rather than the performance, and two goals soon after the restart soothed the fans.

It was no surprise that Rooney, again England’s outstanding player, was the creator of the first with a powerful drive down the left flank. His cut-back from the byline was only partially cleared and Steven Gerrard arrived to hit a bouncing shot in off the underside of the crossbar.

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