CHORZOW, Poland, Sept 8 (AFP) - Jermain Defoe scored a breathtaking goal to set England on their way to a 2-1 victory over Poland here on Wednesday and put their World Cup campaign back on track.
The victory was a welcome boost coming as it did after Saturday's 2-2 draw in Austria which meant coach Sven-Goran Eriksson had come under renewed pressure.
Defoe's first ever goal for England was a spectacular effort.
He was set up by skipper David Beckham's pass and the Tottenham man, with his back to goal, turned his marker Jacek Krzynowek inside out before burying a drive past Jerzy Dudek in the Poland goal.
Defoe had been brought in by Eriksson in place of Alan Smith while calamity-plagued goalkeeper David James was dropped and replaced by Tottenham's Paul Robinson.
James was axed following his blunder against Austria on Saturday which gifted the home side their second goal in the 2-2 draw.
England had squandered a 2-0 lead in that match and they were incapable of holding onto their lead again on Wednesday as three minutes after the interval, Poland were level.
Kamil Kosowski put Maciej Zurawski clean through the middle and the striker scored past Robinson for only his second international goal.
But England hit back in the 58th minute when Arkadiusz Glowacki unwittingly deflected a cross from Ashley Cole into his own net as Michael Owen put him under pressure.
From that point on, England were in charge and a return of four points from their first two matches will ease the pressure on Eriksson as he plots a path to the finals in Germany in 2006.