WITH the sense of occasion that one would expect from the greatest goalscorer of his generation, Michael Owen brought up a half-century of caps by extricating England from the depths of Euro 2004 despair at the Riverside.

Just when his country needed a captain's innings in the absence of the suspended David Beckham, Owen wore the armband with distinction as he scored two goals to rescue England.

His first effort owed a huge amount to good fortune - the Liverpool striker converting a penalty that ought never to have been given - before his razor-sharp striking instincts secured victory.

But the result, and the acclaim that greeted Owen's 21st and 22nd goals for England, was not matched by a display by his side that was at times woeful.

Slovakia, who should not have lost to Sven-Goran Eriksson's men in Bratislava in October, were similarly unlucky as England visited Middlesbrough for the first time since 1937.

Vladimir Janocko's freak 31st-minute goal gave them the upper hand at half time - England could easily have found themselves 3-0 behind by the interval.

But at a time when they were toiling to little effect, a hugely controversial refereeing decision came to their aid.

As Owen jinked his way into the Slovakia penalty box, he lost his footing and fell to the ground under challenge from Marian Zeman.

The contact between the two was minimal, but German referee Wolfgang Stark pointed to the spot.

Slovakia were incandescent, and understandably so. Michal Hanek was booked for protesting; Zeman escaped censure, though he could have been sent off for a professional foul.

Owen - not the most prolific of penalty-takers - remained calm as he waited for Miroslav Konig to commit himself before rolling the ball into the goalkeeper's bottom right-hand corner.

England were level after 62 minutes, and from then on the outcome was never in doubt.

Boro's Gareth Southgate had a huge penalty appeal turned down after he appeared to be bundled over.

Frank Lampard turned the ball home from close range, but his "goal" was wrongly disallowed for offside when three visiting defenders were behind the Chelsea man.

Then, in the 68th minute, Slovakia cracked again. And it was the Liverpool axis of Owen and Steven Gerrard that saved England's blushes.

Gerrard swung over a cross from the left, and Owen stole in unnoticed to plant a header past the helpless Konig and into the corner.

The Riverside rejoiced, and Slovakia had finally been cowed. But they had come so close to inflicting on England one of their most embarrassing ever defeats.

With Turkey twice coming from behind to beat Macedonia 3-2, England are two points behind the Group 7 leaders with a game in hand.

But that scenario seemed an eon away for so much of an evening that started so promisingly for the hosts - Owen was denied by Konig inside a minute - yet soon degenerated into a shambles.

England's formation resembled a tacky piece of costume jewellery rather than a precious diamond as the visitors cut a swathe down both flanks.

So perturbed was Eriksson by England's frailties that he tore up his masterplan after just 43 minutes, replacing Danny Mills with Owen Hargreaves and moving Gerrard into the midfield holding role.

Mills was not injured, judging by the way he sprinted off the pitch, and his exit enabled Phil Neville to be switched to right-back.

It was not just the personnel that were wrong, however; England's left wing - their perennial weakness - was again causing Eriksson a huge headache.

While Ashley Cole bombed ahead of Lampard to little effect, Slovakia gleefully capitalised on the huge hole left behind by the Arsenal defender.

That meant England's left-sided centre-back, Matthew Upson, was hopelessly exposed as the Slovakians seemingly counter-attacked at will.

Never was Eriksson's problem better demonstrated than after 37 minutes, when Igor Demo wasted a glorious chance to double Slovakia's money.

Cole was still in his opponents' penalty area after the breakdown of another England attack when Slovakia surged forward.

Rastislav Michalik's cross caught England short at the back as Cole and Upson desperately tried to recover their ground.

Demo steadied himself 15 yards out, but with only David James to beat he pushed his shot across James and wide of the upright.

A minute later, Owen was denied by Konig, but the visitors were matching England blow for blow as Cole was again found wanting.

Janocko clipped a pass beyond Upson and into Szilard Nemeth's path, only for the unmarked Middlesbrough striker to drill his shot wide.

That missed opportunity came at the end of a hectic ten-minute spell that began with Janocko's goal.

Southgate was penalised for a foul on Nemeth 35 yards from the England goal, and Janocko floated the free-kick into the danger zone.

A posse of players contested the cross - Southgate was the nearest to making contact with the ball - but it sailed over them, beyond James and bounced into the net.

Slovakia's goal had been coming for some time. After their electrifying start to the game, England soon lost their way as Owen and Wayne Rooney grew increasingly isolated.

Rooney was strangely subdued, even off the pace, while Owen became a peripheral figure following his first-minute miss.

Owen was forced to come deeper and deeper to pick up possession, and as England faltered so Slovakia began to show more belief.

Southgate was caught out by a quick long throw, the ball sailing over his head and into the path of Robert Vittek - whose fierce shot struck James on the chest.

England's makeshift side was looking worryingly fragile, and the tactical switch just before half time seemed to make no impact as Slovakia soaked up the pressure after the break.

But Rooney was put out of his misery and replaced by Darius Vassell, and the Aston Villa striker's appearance seemed to galvanise England.

Even so, it still took the decisive intervention of a referee to throw England a lifeline, and the prospect of a repetition of this performance in the Group 7 finale in Turkey is an alarming one.

Result: England 2 Slovakia 1.