Sven-Goran Eriksson was indebted to his man for a crisis, Michael Owen, to come to the rescue in Slovakia just as Ulrika Jonsson's book had looked to be the least of the England coach's worries.

	Michael Owen gets away from Slovak defender Marian Zeman in Bratislava. (ShaunBotterill/GettyImages)

As if Eriksson did not have enough to worry about in his personal life, events took a decided turn for the worse just 24 minutes into England's opening Euro 2004 qualifier in Bratislava.

Middlesbrough's Szilard Nemeth gave Slovakia a deserved lead and, just to make matters worse, violence broke out in the stands, with England fans being baton-charged by police and retaliating with missiles.

There was even racial abuse at the other end of Ashley Cole and Emile Heskey, with memories of England's 2-0 defeat away to Norway in 1993 springing worryingly to mind.

However, although Eriksson's side rarely managed to rise above mediocrity, they did manage to equalise with 26 minutes left.

Whether the goal should have been credited to Owen or David Beckham was in some doubt, with the England captain delivering a free-kick that his team-mate may, or indeed may not, have got the faintest touch on.

However, there was no doubt that Owen was responsible for securing an unlikely victory as he headed home from close range with eight minutes left following a defensive mix-up.

The ingredients for an upset had seemed there from the start - an off-pitch controversy, a bumpy pitch, pouring rain and injuries to England's first-choice central defensive duo.

Indeed, the comparisons with England's last competitive game, against Brazil in the heat and humidity of Shizuoka in the World Cup quarter-finals, could not have been greater.

England were soon indebted to a superb last-ditch clearance by Gareth Southgate after an offside flag had failed to materialise when Nemeth put through Robert Vittek.

Slovakia were certainly looking the more comfortable side, with Eriksson's team already resorting to long balls into the corners for Heskey and Owen to chase in vain.

When Steven Gerrard scrambled the ball behind, he almost contrived to score an own goal, yet it was Nicky Butt who was struggling the most with an uncharacteristic string of misplaced passes.

England's midfield quartet would seem to have been built for the conditions, but it was Slovakia who adapted best and seized the lead.

A catalogue of defensive oversights were to blame, with Vladimir Janocko allowed to cross the ball from the left flank and Attila Pinte with time to head the deep cross back across goal.

It fell invitingly for Nemeth, who was in far too much space, and he buried his shot past the exposed figure of David Seaman from close range.

Butt shot just wide in response and David Beckham had a free-kick saved, but the real question was just why it had taken Slovakia to score to wake England up from their slumbering start.

Not that Eriksson's side were out of the woods yet, with Gareth Southgate wasting one chance as he headed straight at goalkeeper Miroslav Konig and Beckham chipped another over the crossbar.

Sadly, there were far more incidents in the stands, with some England fans provoking the Slovakian police and the ensuing baton charges being met with missiles.

England continued to run up blind alleys after the restart, with far too little width as Beckham and Scholes became sucked into a central midfield tussle and the team seemingly started to lose their cool.

Beckham stabbed a half-chance at Konig, while Owen mis-hit another effort harmlessly wide, but finally there was a glimmer of light.

Beckham delivered a searching free-kick from the left flank and while the defence remained static, Owen nipped into the space and appeared to get the faintest of touches to divert the ball past Konig.

On came Kieron Dyer for Gerrard, with Scholes released back into central midfield and it was from that roaming role that he found himself wide on the right flank with eight minutes left.

His cross should have been cut out by defender Peter Dzurik but Owen showed his poacher's instincts to pounce on the loose ball and head home from close range.

Eriksson attempted to close the game down by replacing Owen with Owen Hargreaves, but Seaman still needed to make a smart save from Nemeth and Marian Zeman had a point-blank shot agonisingly deflected inches wide.

It was desperate stuff in the final few minutes but somehow, England completed a lucky escape.