Soccer: Late goals take England through

NUREMBERG - Late goals from Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard were a deserved reward for the pressure England exerted over Trinidad & Tobago this morning.

England struggled to get another Group B victory that put them through to the second round following a 1-0 win over Paraguay and it looked as though more than 80 minutes of poor finishing would catch up with them.

Even the long-awaited arrival just before the hour mark of striker Wayne Rooney, less than seven weeks after suffering a broken foot, failed to provide a breakthrough.

But the towering Crouch, who had been guilty of a string of embarrassing misses, finally came good by nodding in David Beckham's cross and Gerrard lashed in the second during stoppage time from outside the area.

They were England's first second-half goals at a World Cup under Sven-Goran Eriksson, following their blanks in 2002, and the coach will have breathed a huge sigh of relief.

England, looking better in the cooler conditions than the 29C heat in Frankfurt, were more fluid in their passing and could easily have been 2-0 up at the break with better finishing.

They had the lion's share of the possession and kept Trinidad & Tobago on the back foot for most of the first half, while central defenders Rio Ferdinand and John Terry were largely equal to the aerial threat.

Though former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke was impressive, pulling the strings in the Soca Warriors' build up play and supporting his strikers Stern John and Kenwyne Jones, they had only limited chances.

Left back Ashley Cole was among many England players to have a much better game than against Paraguay, exchanging neat passes and overlapping with Joe Cole down the left flank -- where England caused their opponents the most trouble.

Cole's trickery on the ball and willingness to take defenders on had been one of the few bright spots in Frankfurt and he tormented right back Carlos Edwards in Nuremberg.

England's right flank featured their only change, with Jamie Carragher standing in at right back for Gary Neville who suffered a calf injury in training on Wednesday

The problems were all up front, where Michael Owen is still a long way from his livewire self, having played only once for Newcastle United this year since breaking a bone in his foot in December.

He failed to get in a clean shot in the opening minutes when a Frank Lampard effort bounced out of Shaka Hislop's arms.

Later, he did not move forward quickly enough to get his head to an inviting Beckham cross into the danger zone and failed to capitalise on a promising through ball.

Crouch was no better, spectacularly missing a volley and heading wide of the target on several other occasions that had England fans wondering if the night would end in tears.

The Warriors were a real threat on the break as England pushed forward in search of a winner. But the pressure from Eriksson's men finally paid off and their eye for the target finally returned when it counted.

- REUTERS