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Gareth Southgates reign as interim England manager began with a 2-0 victory over Malta in Saturdays World Cup qualifier at Wembley. Southgate, in temporary charge after Sam Allardyces departure last week, watched as Daniel Sturridge headed the opener in the first half, with Dele Alli dispatching their second before a quiet second half.Here, we pick out five talking points from a solid but unspectacular victory for the Three Lions… Southgate makes winning startA few weeks ago Gareth Southgate was expecting to spend the international break preparing for the U21s meetings with Kazakhstan and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but Allardyces sudden departure has thrust him into an unfamiliar role, and he can have few complaints about his first game in charge. Gareth Southgate speaks to Sky Sports after Englands 2-0 win over Malta It was not the thrashing many people had anticipated, but England could hardly have been more comfortable. Eighty per cent possession and 20 shots to Maltas one highlighted their dominance, and their two-goal half-time lead allowed them to coast through the second period and conserve their energy for Tuesdays trip to Slovenia.A meeting with Malta is unlikely to have much bearing on whether Southgate gets the job on a permanent basis, but its a platform to build on and the 46-year-old was pleased with the result. I thought we did some very good things, he told Sky Sports. After a difficult 10 days, for them to play like they did in the first half was pleasing. Theres a lot more to come.Henderson pulls the stringsJordan Henderson has made a strong start to the season with Liverpool and his impressive form continued at Wembley. The 26-year-old was deployed in his usual deep-lying midfield role, but that didnt stop him being Englands main creative outlet. Liverpools Jordan Henderson was named man-of-the-match He carved Malta open with a string of accurate long-range passes in the first half, setting up Jesse Lingard for a glorious chance before providing the assist for his club team-mate Sturridge to score the opener. He was heavily involved in the second goal, too, bursting into the box and teeing up Alli to find the net at the second attempt. Henderson the creator Jordan Henderson created four goalscoring chances against Malta - twice as many as any other player on the pitch. Henderson was a peripheral figure at Euro 2016, but recent evidence suggests he may be worthy of a more prominent role in the national side. Southgate will have been impressed by what he saw.Rooney returns to midfield Rooney may not have a future in Manchester Uniteds midfield but he was back in the middle of the park for Southgates first game in charge of the national team - just as he was under Allardyce against Slovakia. Wayne Rooney returned to Englands midfield at Wembley He saw plenty of the ball, taking 170 touches and completing 133 passes, but his contribution was minimal compared to his midfield partner Henderson, and he was also fortunate to avoid punishment for a studs-up challenge on Malta captain Andre Schembri in the first half.Englands midfield was rarely troubled in a defensive sense by the Group F minnows, but with Eric Dier waiting in the wings, Rooney offered little to suggest he would merit a place in the starting line-up against stronger opposition.Sturridge makes his caseSturridge only played eight minutes of Englands opening group game against Slovakia last month, so he will have been pleased to mark his return to the starting line-up with a goal against Malta. Daniel Sturridge scored from Jordan Hendersons cross in the first half The Liverpool man made the most of slack marking to guide Hendersons cross into the net, and he would have added to his tally were it not for a combination of wasteful finishing and impressive goalkeeping by Maltas Andrew Hogg.All in all, though, it was a good nights work for the 27-year-old. England have real competition for places in attack, but Harry Kanes injury has given Sturridge a chance to stake his claim. He will be hoping to keep his place in the team over Jamie Vardy and Marcus Rashford against Slovenia.Tougher tests to comeThe result was never in doubt here, but Southgates credentials will be more strongly tested on Tuesday night in Ljubljana. The Three Lions needed an 86th-minute winner from Rooney on their last trip to the Slovenian capital in June 2015, and it will be another tricky test this time around. Maltas Alfred Effiong controls the ball under pressure from Wayne Rooney and John Stones Southgate may still be in place when England welcome old foes Scotland to Wembley in a months time, and then theres the prospect of a showpiece friendly against Julen Lopeteguis Spain. Southgate and his players put the Allardyce affair behind them with Saturdays easy win over Malta, but there are far more difficult tests ahead.You can watch Englands tour of Bangladesh, plus Premier League football and the Japan Grand Prix on Sky Sports. Upgrade now and enjoy three months at half price! Also See: Solid start for Southgate England 2-0 Malta recap Adidas Superstar Wholesale China . Kenny Miller scored from the penalty spot and Camilo Sanvezzo came off the bench to add two late goals as the Whitecaps kept their playoff hopes alive with a 3-0 victory over the sagging Impact on Saturday afternoon. Cheap Adidas Superstar Wholesale . -- Rory McIlroy birdied his last two holes Thursday for a 7-under 63 to take the lead after one round of the Honda Classic. http://www.cheapadidassuperstar.us/.com) - Rakeem Christmas scored 21 points, B. Cheap Adidas Superstar China . Trailing 5-4 in the third set, the 12th-ranked Isner fought off two match points and evened it at 5-5 with consecutive aces. The former University of Georgia star had his only service break of the match to go up 6-5 before firing the last four of his 30 aces to close out Ginepri, an Atlanta resident ranked 281st. Cheap Adidas Superstar .A. Happ capped a challenging season with one of his best efforts of the year.CEDAR PARK, Texas -- The St. Johns IceCaps gave up too many open-ice chances and the Texas Stars capitalized during a 6-3 victory in Game 1 of the Calder Cup final. St. Johns had 29-23 advantage in shots and pressured Texas for most of the night, but the scoring chances against IceCaps goalie Michael Hutchinson disappointed head coach Keith McCambridge. "The goaltending wasnt the issue for me, it was our execution during the game," McCambridge said. "We played the game too wide open against obviously a very dangerous team offensively. We gave up too many Grade-A scoring chances against us and got ourselves on the wrong side of the game." The second period embodied McCambridges disappointments. St. Johns outshot the Stars 12-4 in the period, but Chris Mueller, Scott Glennie and Travis Morin all scored for Texas, cancelling out a tying goal by Will ONeil 1:47 into the period. All three goals came on rushes by Texas. Mueller beat Hutchinson over the right shoulder on a breakaway, while Glennie finished off a 3-on-1 rush with a wrist shot over the same shoulder. The backbreaker came later in the period when Morin scored a short-handed goal on a 2-on-1 with Brendan Ranford. "It was tough, we knew they were a great team and we gave up too many odd man rushes," said IceCaps centre Eric ODell. "We know how offensively skilled they are and they capitalized on their chances a we just caught a few times and that when they came down and scored."; With the IceCaps trailing 4-1 after 40 minutes, the game opened up even more in the third period.dddddddddddd Kael Mouillierat cut the lead to 4-2 just 2:36 into the third. Glennie then reinstated Texas three-goal lead on a tic-tack-toe passing play with Mueller and Dustin Jeffrey. Jordan Hill countered Glennies second goal less than a minute later when he tipped an initial shot by Andrew Gordon in for his first goal since the 2012-13 season. Mike Hedden added an empty-net goal for Texas to reach the final deficit. Earlier Morin gave Texas a 1-0 lead 3:08 into the game on a power play. It was the first power-play goal St. Johns conceded in 34 chances dating back to the second round against the Norfolk Admirals. Morin beat Hutchinson on the Stars first true scoring chance of the game -- a shot from below the right circle after a pass from Glennie. "I thought it was big, they had killed of 34 in a row so we knew they were good on the penalty kill," Stars coach Willie Desjardins said. "Its important to get the power play going, so that was big for us." Texas didnt allow a shot on goal until there was just six minutes left in the first and outshot St. Johns 11-5 in the opening period. But things changed in the final two periods as the IceCaps finished with a 23-12 shot advantage in the final two periods. Cristopher Nilstorp stopped 26-of-29 shots for Texas, while Hutchinson made 17 stops. Game 2 is Monday back at the Cedar Park Center. ' ' '