Southgate's England crusie past Malta in World Cup qualifier

Gareth Southgate'sSouthgate's England cruised past Malta in the interim manager's first match as manager. Germany, meanwhile, hammered the Czech Republic 3-0.

England's Dele Alli shoots at goal Reuters / Eddie Keogh

Daniel Sturridge nodded in the opener from Jordan Henderson's cross for his 100th career goal before Dele Alli fired in a rebound to give the hosts a deserved interval lead.

They scored first-half goals in front of a crowd of 82,000, steering England to a second straight win in Group F, leaving them two points clear at the top.

Liverpool striker Sturridge headed superbly back across Malta goalkeeper Andrew Hogg in the 29th minute following an inviting cross from club team-mate Jordan Henderson.

Alli then combined cleverly with Henderson to grab England's second goal seven minutes before half-time, the duo exchanging passes on the edge of the area before the former poked home the rebound after his initial effort was saved.

"We, at times, played some really nice stuff in both halves, and had plenty of chances to have made it more comfortable," said Southgate, who has been appointed on a temporary basis following Sam Allardyce's shock departure.

"In the second half, subconsciously, there was a feeling the game was won and we were looking towards Tuesday physically. We didn't bomb forward as we might have done had the scoreline been tighter. There's room for improvement, but that's not a bad place for us to be."

Southgate and England will expect a much trickier assignment in Ljubljana when they take on Slovenia, who claimed an important 1-0 home win over Slovakia, in three days' time.

But post-match agenda, topics revolved around, once again, captain Wayne Rooney's continuing worth to England and whether Southgate would bid to land the England manager's job on a permanent basis.