Gareth Southgate’s four-game reign as England’s interim manager began with a comfortable World Cup qualifying victory over Malta at Wembley Stadium.
Daniel Sturridge broke the deadlock with a header just before the half-hour mark and Dele Alli completed the scoring just nine minutes later.
The Three Lions had chances to win the game by a more comfortable margin but Malta goalkeeper Andrew Hogg had a terrific evening between the sticks to keep the scoreline respectable from the visitors’ perspective.
Pietro Ghedin’s side travelled to England in hope more than expectation and they were required to defend for the entire match, save from Andrei Agius’s volley late on.
England dominated possession throughout, as was probably to be expected against a side ranked 176th in the world, and often had to contend with Malta bringing all 11 players back into their own half in a vain attempt to keep the hosts at bay.
The first true effort of the game came from Three Lions skipper Wayne Rooney on the right-hand side of the Malta box. His curling effort was palmed away well by Hogg. It was the first of many Hogg would be required to make.
Southgate was forced into an early change as Danny Rose had to come on for the injured Ryan Bertrand after just 19 minutes.
And just seconds after Rose’s introduction, debutant Jesse Lingard, whose last two club goals came at Wembley, had an excellent chance to break the deadlock when played in by Henderson but he lifted his shot just over the bar.
Man of the match Henderson was again orchestrator-in-chief as he created the next opening for England as Dele drew a fantastic save from Hogg. Sturridge could only blaze the rebound high and wide.
Eventually, though, the goal did come, and Henderson was in the thick of the action once more as his right-sided cross was expertly headed into the far corner by Sturridge for his seventh international goal.
The Liverpool captain notched his second assist less than 10 minutes later when he played Dele into the box, and the Tottenham midfielder prodded home at the second attempt for England’s 600th goal in competitive internationals.
Sturridge might have made the half-time scoreline more comfortable, only to be foiled at the near post by Hogg, who then held saved the striker’s six-yard header moments later.
Malta were under the cosh for the entire 90 minutes and they had their Kingston-upon-Thames-born goalkeeper Hogg to thank for keeping the score down.
With Southgate’s men controlling the second half, Hogg did brilliantly to claw away an angled Rooney free-kick, and he did even better to deny Theo Walcott from close range when the Arsenal speedster was slipped in by Dele.
Malta’s only opening came on 81 minutes when Agius peeled away to meet a free-kick on the volley but Joe Hart was alert and blocked the ball at his near post.
Dele probably should have netted England’s third late on but he somehow contrived to hit Marcus Rashford’s cross over the bar from a matter of yards.
The result was never in doubt once Sturridge headed home, and Southgate and his team will no doubt face a sterner examination in Slovenia on Tuesday night.