David's day again – without the drama

England 1 Sweden 1

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Time the enemy as Eriksson seeks to crack enigma code

Lost boy shines out of the hole

'It was harder to get up for this game'

A case of After The Lord David's Show? The last-gasp heroics of the captain and the resultant World Cup qualification – though not necessarily the performance – in England's previous game here against Greece last month, would always be an impossible act to follow. Even though David Beckham produced delirium among the home contingent once again, this time with a first-half penalty, this friendly was bound to suffer by comparison with that titanic encounter.

"It was a difficult game," reflected head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson after watching his adopted land attempt to overcome his homeland. "If you have two or three touches on the ball, you have three yellow shirts around you. That's the strength of Sweden. They are very disciplined and don't give you the space to play football. That's why they are at the World Cup."

It was essentially fringe theatre, with the result incidental, an opportunity for Eriksson to scrutinise the possibles as well as his probables, of whom arguably only six started the game. In fact, it was those among the five second-half substitutes who may have done enough to twist Eriksson's elbow when the countdown to the Far East begins.

Danny Murphy, on his international debut, was a particularly forceful figure once he arrived, while the Tottenham pair of old hands, Darren Anderton and Teddy Sheringham, exhibited the confidence and prowess they have been showing at club level.

Of those on the starting roster, Gareth Southgate, playing his first game for the Swede – the last time he appeared in an England shirt was the 1-0 home defeat by Germany, Kevin Keegan's last match in charge – confirmed himself as steady a defender and intelligent with his passing as ever. Trevor Sinclair, deployed out of position on the left of midfield (who isn't?), earned another chance in a role more familiar to him.

As for Kevin Phillips? Well, the scampering, superbly balanced Sunderland man again looked the part in the hour allotted to him, but yet again failed to score. Without a goal in his seven England games, he will always struggle to gain appreciation in a company containing Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler. Owen had been expected to start, despite a week in which the striker has attempted to defy injury, but Eriksson sensibly decided to withdraw him.

On an afternoon when loyalties were stretched (though, in the circumstances, hardly to breaking point) for two in the England camp, Eriksson and his assistant Tord Grip, this was possibly the most satisfactory conclusion for the Swedish pair overseeing their 10th international.

Yet, frustratingly for the home team, it means they have still not overcome that baffling inability to account for the Swedes. Nine games have now elapsed since Sweden were last defeated by England, back in 1968 at Wembley.

Before the game, we were entertained by the Abba tribute band, Bjorn Again. It was an apposite booking, in view of the quietly impressive manner in which Eriksson has dragged England from an object of pity to one whom the world's most illustrious teams will regard with extreme caution.

The context of the game was bound to make it difficult for the latecomers to Eriksson's thinking. The atmos-phere was notably subdued in comparison to that afternoon of exuberance here five weeks ago, with its climactic conclusion, Beckham's free-kick, which secured a place at next summer's World Cup finals.

With another crucial absentee being Owen's injured clubmate Steven Gerrard, it was Paul Scholes who was charged with the responsibility of orchestrating England's attacking options. Having experienced a week in which he found himself in bad odour with his club manager, the midfielder responded with the appetite we might have expected to the challenge of a day back in the office with a substantially different room of colleagues.

But the Swedes blocked and harried and there were few occasions when a clear opening arrived. From one, albeit outside the area, Phillips shot straight into goalkeeper Magnus Hedman's midriff when directly in front of goal.

That gave England impetus and Beckham curled a trademark free-kick towards the far corner of Hedman's goal, only to witness the Coventry man dive frantically to divert it wide. The crowd were woken from their somewhat sopor-ific state, and even more so when an unmarked Rio Ferdinand got his head to the resulting corner from Beckham. But from an acute angle the attempt sailed on to the roof of the net.

After 27 minutes, there was reward at last when Sinclair attempted an interchange of passes with Emile Heskey. As he did so, the Hammers' man was apparently caught by defender Christoffer Andersson. Television evidence suggested that there was minimal contact, and Eriksson said: "I have not seen it on TV, and maybe it's better if I don't." The captain, Beckham, elected to take the spot-kick himself and left Hedman clutch- ing air as he drove the ball home with venom.

With Celtic's Henrik Larsson rested and Arsenal's Fredrik Ljungberg injured, the Swedish dual coaching set-up of Tommy Soderberg and Lars Lagerback only included three British-based players in their starting team-sheet. Before the interval, it was the goalkeeper amongst them, Hedman, who was by far the busiest. Sweden, having qualified undefeated for Japan-South Korea, resembled a bird strutting proudly but disinclined to display all its plumage and, in the first 44 minutes, the visiting side only threatened once, a drive from Hakan Mild into the body of goalkeeper Nigel Martyn.

In the one minute remaining before the break, they managed to score. It was as much a surprise to themselves, possibly, as those watching. Erik Edman's daisy-cutter free-kick was a tricky one but it should have been dealt with comfortably by Martyn. Instead, the Leeds keeper obligingly parried the Heerenveen defender's effort at the feet of Mild, who gleefully thumped it into the roof of the net.

Eriksson made no immediate substitutions at the break. When he did, 12 minutes into the second period, he did so en bloc, and the new players injected life into a contest which was, frankly, dead on its feet. Danny Mills, Robbie Fowler, Anderton, Murphy and Sheringham all emerged – to be followed belatedly by Frank Lampard and Phil Neville – and in a frenetic period that ensued, Scholes' back heel to Anderton produced a splendid save from Hedman. Within seconds of his introduction, Murphy came close to scoring, but the goalkeeper again came to Sweden's rescue. Anderton, following up, had his shot blocked by a defender.

England continued to dominate without appearing likely to break down a typically strong and resourceful Swedish rearguard. Once again, Old Trafford had to settle for an England draw. This time, though, they could depart the stadium without their nerve endings frayed.

England 1 Sweden 1

Beckham pen 28 Mild 44

Half-time: 1-1 Attendance: 64,413