Captain Steven Gerrard rescued England from a post-World Cup embarrassment against Hungary, scoring twice in a five-minute span of the second half to lift the Three Lions to a 2-1 exhibition victory Wednesday night.
England was booed from the start by fans in the crowd of about 70,000 venting anger at the team's second-round World Cup exit.
The jeers increased when England fell behind in the 63rd minute on an own goal by Phil Jagielka. Replays, however, showed the ball didn't completely cross the goal line, reviving memories of Frank Lampard's disallowed goal in the 4-1 loss to Germany in June.
Gerrard tied it six minutes later from 25 yards, then went around three defenders for his second goal in the 73rd minute.
Preparing for its first European Championship qualifier against Bulgaria on Sept. 3, England offered coach Fabio Capello only patchy evidence that there will be a dramatic turnaround in form.
''I am happy with the performance. We played well in the first 30 minutes, but the last 10 minutes of the first half were not so good,'' Capello said. ''They were really compact and it was difficult to find space.''
Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott - two wingers cut from the 30-man preliminary World Cup roster, were in the starting lineup and showed the pace that was missing when England was ripped apart by a young German side.
Their inclusion also enabled Capello to end his rigid adherence to a 4-4-2 formation in the first half, deploying Wayne Rooney as the lone front man in a 4-5-1.
Rooney, who failed to score at the World Cup after a standout season for Manchester United, was ruled offside when he found the net in the third minute after racing onto Gerrard's through ball. Rooney has not scored for England since September.
Lacking sharpness, Rooney was given support in the second half by Fulham's Bobby Zamora, one of three players to make their England debuts in the second half.
Center back Michael Dawson replaced John Terry, while 20-year-old left back Kieran Gibbs came in for the much-booed Ashley Cole. Ashley Young replaced Walcott.
