England laboured to a 2-0 win over Estonia to keep their 100% record in Euro 2016 qualifying intact ahead of the final Group E game.
Theo Walcott opened the scoring on the stroke of half time as the Three Lions finally crowbarred open a stubborn visiting defence at Wembley.
With four minutes left, Raheem Sterling completed the scoring following good work from Jamie Vardy as England stuttered their way to a hard-fought three points.
Below, relive the drama with our live commentary.
6.47pmHello and welcome to Sports Mole's live commentary of England's visit of Estonia and what do we think about Jurgen Klopp's appointment at Liverpool then? Okay so that wasn't the cleanest of segues, but he's the talk of the town. And the country. And perhaps the continent. But it's England's time to dominate the column inches and tonight Roy Hodgson's men welcome their Estonian counterparts to Wembley hunting a NINTH successive Euro 2016 qualifying win. How? Let's have a look before team news.
6.49pmTwenty four points, eight games. Twenty six goals scored, three conceded. Hodgson either did a deal with Lucifer himself or he has got the Three Lions playing well. Very well. Okay so Group E isn't exactly the group of death. In fact, the group is softer than Taylor Swift throwing a packet of Totes socks at Cliff Richard, but still, they've done well. They're already booked into Euro 2016, as you might expect, but they'll want to complete this campaign with a 100% record - and they certainly should.
6.52pmEstonia sit fourth in the group with 10 points, two points behind Slovenia in the race for a third-place playoff. They've done okay but, realistically, they're not on England's level and dropped points here is definitely on the cards. Hodgson's troops should - we say should - be heading to Lithuania on Sunday for their final qualifier looking to complete a perfect campaign. But who knows. Stranger things have happened - except for the fact they haven't.
6.54pmEnough messing about. It's time for team news! Let's go.
6.57pmENGLAND XI: Hart; Clyne, Smalling, Cahill, Bertrand; Milner, Barkley, Sterling, Lallana, Walcott; Kane
6.59pmESTONIA XI: Aksalu; Pikk, Klavan, Jaager, Mets; Kallaste, Dmitrijev, Vassiiljev, Teniste; Purje, Zenijo
7.00pmENGLAND SUBS: Butland, Walker, Heaton, Jones, Jagielka, Gibbs, Townsend, Shelvey, Alli, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Vardy
7.01pm ESTONIA SUBS: Londak, Meerits, Barengrub, Kams, Jurgenson, Barnov, Lindpere, Puri, Luts, Gussev, Teever
7.05pmThere's not much by way of a surprise for England. No Wayne Rooney or Danny Ings due to ankle problems, meaning Harry Kane leads the forward line on his full debut. Behind him, he'll have Theo Walcott and Raheem Sterling on both wings while Adam Lallana plays in at number 10. Then, Ross Barkley and James Milner anchor the midfield, while Nathaniel Clyne, Gary Cahill - who has the armband in Rooney's absence - Chris Smalling and Ryan Bertrand line up in defence ahead of Joe Hart. Strong team.
7.09pmIt's interesting to see Hodgson favour misfiring striker Harry Kane over in-form Theo Walcott, who has enjoyed a smooth transition from wing man to number nine for Arsenal this season. The Spurs man has only netted once in 10 outings for Tottenham, but he's given the nod. It is worth noting, too, that Kane has netted three times in as many internationals.
7.12pmOn to Estonia now and the positive thing for coach Magnus Pehrsson is that he has the luxury of having Konstantin Vassiljev, Ats Purje and Sergi Zeniov available. This is significant because the visitors have only scored four goals in qualifying and those three have got them. Watch out for right-back Enar Jääger - he's been known to bomb forward. Apologies in advance.
7.16pm IT'S LIKE STAT - AND THAT'S THE WAY IT IS: As you can probably tell, we'll be talking about a few stats now. Do you support England? And do you believe in omens? If you answered yes on both accounts then here's a promising stat for you to chew on.
7.20pmDid you know that if England stay unbeaten in their qualification campaign, history suggests that they may just reach the semi-finals in France next summer? Apparently so. Spain and the Netherlands stayed unbeaten during qualifying for the World Cup 2010. The result? One reached the final and one lifted the trophy! Still skeptical? Okay. Spain and Germany both stayed unbeaten in their Euro 2012 qualifiers. The result? One of them reached the semi-finals and the other, well, won the competition! Thanks to the boys down at BWIN for that doozy.
7.23pmI can think of a few things: my conception, Spurs, Interstellar, paint dry.
Can't think of one thing I want to watch less than England v Estonia :(
— Sports Punter (@Sports_Punter) October 9, 20157.25pmNot even some England fans are feeling this I don't think.
How can you get excited for England vs Estonia?
— Josh Loveridge (@JoshLoveridge93) October 9, 20157.28pmIt's not clear who Tom is rooting for tonight, but I'm a neutral too so we're both hoping for a good game.
COME ON ENGLAND WE CAN BEAT ESTONIA TODAY AND CONTINUE OUR AMAZING FORM, COME ON ENGLAND, COME ON ENGLAND, COME ON ENGLAND!!!
— Tom Pretty (@TomPretty94) October 9, 20157.31pmIf Euan was as confident as he makes out then he might've vowed to chop something else off? Something more important?
If Estonia wins i will chop my left pinky off
So confident England will win
— Euan (@TrueGiroud) October 9, 20157.34pmThe person who gave John his ticket might have lied over how significant this game is.
@condorchrissy Wembley is ready for THE BIG ONE! England v Estonia. pic.twitter.com/hxdwMg1Ekz
— John Barrett (@johnbarrett1104) October 9, 20157.37pmBy the same token, this gentleman might have been lied to in regards to the odds. England are 1/8, so if you put £10 on you'll get, hmm, £11.25 back in total. Estonia are 20/1, however, so if you put £10 on that you'll lose £10.
Get England to beat Estonia tonight and win an easy £40 from £10. Basically printing money! #Believe https://t.co/qNorh52uTJ
— Anfield HQ (@AnfieldHQ) October 9, 20157.40pmFive minutes to go. Have a quick read of our bad boy of a preview to whet the appetite further and we'll team up again soon.
1 minKICKOFF: Right, we're off finally. The result isn't up for debate. The question is how many will they win by? Let's find out. They get us underway.
4 minSAVE! Excellent volley from Walcott is punched away by Aksalu. It's an excellent start by England. They look in the mood.
6 minExcellent cross field ball from Smalling to Walcott, who's in an acre of space as Lallana runs off him, but Walcott's pass is poor, and behind him, and the attack breaks down. As you might expect, it's all England.
8 minSterling goes down inside the box, but it's a foul from his teammate Lallana as both of them go for the same ball and collide. Still, really promising for the hosts.
11 minCHANCE! First decent chance of the clash as Barkley latches on Lallana's incisive through ball, but the Everton man goes down under a challenge from Ken Kallaste. Good tracking back.
14 minSAVE! Another smart save from Aksalu, who punches away Bertrand's cross but it lands to Barkley, whose first-time snap shot is also well saved by the Estonian stopper. Expect much more of this.
16 minSterling may have cost £49m, but his opposite number tonight Taniste, who plays in the Norwegian second division, has held his own against him thus far.
19 minRoss Barkley and Adam Lallana certainly England's best players in this first 19 minutes or so. The duo are tucked in behind their three-pronged attack and they're getting time and space in which to make things happen. Sooner or later, it's a partnership that will yield rewards tonight.
22 minLallana has made some excellent runs but Milner's over-the-top ball is too long for the Liverpool man and it goes out of play. We can see why England were 1/8 in terms of odds, but still hunting a first goal.
24 minHarry Kane hasn't done a lot up front yet. He's looked a little isolated at times.
27 minLallana has delivered one or two excellent corners so far tonight, and here's another but Gary Cahill's header flies wide. They've had to be patient, very patient, but surely they'll find a breakthrough soon?
30 minHalf-an-hour gone then and Estonia, to their credit, are making England work very, very hard. Just now, Estonia venture forward but Teniste, on the edge of the box, has his effort blocked.
32 minExcellent clearance from Smalling to thwart a fantastic cross from Vasilijev and Estonia have a corner!
33 minEngland clear the corner but Vassilijev's corner is, well, abysmal. It curls out of play and in again, but the referee awards a goal kick. So poor.
35 minCLOSE! Not far away at all from Milner, who drills a decent shot just wide of the Estonia net. He's been lukewarm tonight, the Liverpool man.
37 minSHOT! Walcott has spent the first 37 minutes on the periphery somewhat, but he does well here and has a shot blocked by Pikk. Dare I say that Estonia look comfortable back there? They do. I can't lie.
40 minSHOT! Walcott coming to the fore a little more in recent minutes and the Arsenal man does well before pulling a left-footed effort wide of the mark. Well wide, actually.
42 minCLOSE! It's Walcott again, with the winger drilling into the side-netting, before Milner thumped just over the bar from outside the box. They're going closer.
45 minGOAL! England 1-0 Estonia (Theo Walcott)
8.31pmHALF TIME: England 1-0 Estonia
8.32pmWe said Barkley and Lallana were the danger men, and it's Barkley who plays a huge role in the breakthrough on the stroke of half time. The Everton plays a brilliant ball in for Walcott, who timed his run to perfection, and the Arsenal man finished well past the Estonia stopper. Deserved? Just about, but they didn't half work hard for it. Estonia have been superb defensively but one lapse of concentration and they were undone.
45 minKICKOFF: And we're back! England, leading 1-0 through Theo Walcott's very late opener, get us underway once more and they'll hope that goal broke Estonia's resolve ahead of this second half.
48 minEngland start this half like they finished it - well on top - and it should be 2-0 probably but Kane's volley to connect with Clyne's cross is horrible and he misses it completely.
50 minSAVE! Aksalu has been excellent between the sticks for Estonia tonight, and he pulls off his best of the night as he denies Kane from close range.
53 minBarkley travels with the ball about 30 yards but he gets confused once he reaches the box and goes down under a fair challenge. Disappointing that from Barkley, who had a superb first half.
55 minCLOSE! Brilliant footwork from Barkley and he drives a left-footed effort just wide from an acute angle. That's more like it.
58 minEstonia had a decent spell of possession there but, as you might expect, it came to nothing. Now it's England ball again and it might be like this for a while.
61 minWe've reached the hour mark then and fair play to Estonia - it's only 1-0 and it's not like they've been leaking chances. They've had one clear-cut opportunity and scored from it.
64 minEngland could do with a few subs, to freshen things up a bit because, as it stands, nothing is happening. It's easy for Estonia. Far too easy.
66 minSterling has been so disappointing tonight. He hasn't had a great season in truth, has he? £49m? Hmm.
69 minSUB: First sub, and it's Estonia as winger Aleksandr Dmitrijev makes way for Joel Lindpere.
72 minSUB: First England sub now as Lallana makes way for Oxlade-Chamberlain.
74 minBOOKING: First booking of the night as Pikk receives a yellow card for fouling Walcott. No complaints. This one is petering out big time. BIG time.
77 minSAVE! Excellent save again from Aksalu, who punches away Barkley's drive, but he should've scored. He definitely should have scored.
80 minTen to play. Looks like those people we talked about on Twitter beforehand were right. This has been a damp squib. England totally dominant but Estonia defending well.
83 minSUB: Here's Jamie Vardy, who replaces Theo Walcott and he gets a very decent applause.
85 minGOAL! England 2-0 Estonia (Sterling)
86 minTwo-up and definitely game over now, if it wasn't already. Vardy forces Jaager into a slip as he runs on to Harry Kane's flick on, before passing across the face of goal for Sterling to tap home.
90 minTHREE MINUTES ADDED ON:
9.35pmFULL TIME: England 2-0 Estonia
9.36pmLet's not beat around the bush; it was dreadful and we're all happy it's over. Walcott opened the scoring, before Sterling completed it on a night when Estonia, if we're honest, emerged with most of the credit for their defending. Anywho, so far as good. 100% record still intact and we'll leave it there. All the best.
