CNN.com - Beckham off as England scrape win

Beckham cuts a lonely figure as he trudges off after his red card.

LONDON, England -- England captain David Beckham was sent off but his side qualified for next year's World Cup finals with a nervy 1-0 win over Austria at Old Trafford on Saturday.

England led through Frank Lampard's 24th minute penalty when Beckham was controversially given his marching orders for two yellow cards in quick succession.

The 10-men held out comfortably enough although the manner of the victory will scarcely appease critics of manager Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Beckham will miss England's final Group Six match against Poland but a 2-0 win for the Netherlands over the Czech Republic in a game later on Saturday meant both of the sides are through to the finals in Germany because whatever the result of that match they are ensured a place as a best runner-up.

But an England win at Old Trafford on Wednesday would see them top the group and improve their chances of a seeding ahead of the crucial draw.

Beckham became the first England captain to be sent off when Spanish referee Luis Medina brandished his cards.

Beckham's first yellow came for careless use of the elbow when challenging Andreas Ibertsberger and he was sent off in the 59th minute for supposedly fouling the same player as Ibertsberger attacked down the left wing.

If the first yellow card was disputed, the second was even more controversial as television replays showed the Real Madrid midfielder had pulled out of the challenge before making contact.

Beckham is the 10th player to have been sent off for England, and the only one to have been dismissed twice following his red card at the 1998 World Cup.

Eriksson told the BBC after the match that his captain had been unluckly to be sent off and that they would consider an appeal to world governing body FIFA.

''I think both were very harsh yellow cards," said the Swede who praised his side for repelling the Austrian threat.

"I thought we defended brilliantly in the second half," he added.

Beckham insisted he had not lost his temper. "I was shocked (by the second red card) and a lot of people were. You can see clearly on the television that I pulled out of the challenge," said the skipper.

His sending off came during the middle of a rocky period for the home side as Roland Linz hit the crossbar and central defender Sol Campbell went off with a hamstring injury.

Campbell was replaced by Rio Ferdinand, who had made way for him in a starting line-up, and will miss the Poland game.

Precious points

But with the versatile Ledley King coming on for Joe Cole, England were able to hold out for three precious points and might have added to their tally as Lampard saw a free kick pushed aside by Jurgen Marcho and then forced another fine save from the Austrian goalkeeper.

England had started the game desperate to impress after the humiliation of a 1-0 defeat to Northern Ireland last month, but it needed a slightly fortunate penalty award to lift their spirits.

Michael Owen was pulled down just inside the area as he locked arms with Paul Schamer and Lampard, who has taken over penalty duties from Beckham, slotted the ball home.

England relaxed a little after the goal and Owen was unfortunate not to win his side another penalty after being brought down by Andreas Dober.

In a rare Austrian attack Markus Kiesenebner was only just too high with a fizzing right-footed drive from the right of the area, but England were in control at half-time.

Welsh victory

Ryan Giggs scored a free kick winner as Wales registered their first win Group Six win with a 3-2 victory over Northern Ireland in Belfast on Saturday.

Three weeks after England were humbled 1-0 at Windsor Park, skipper Giggs made sure there was no repeat as he helped create two goals and scored the winner in this Group Six clash.

The result ended a 15-game run without a competitive victory stretching back to March 2003 for the Welsh.

Simon Davies and Carl Robinson put Wales 2-0 up before John Hartson missed a penalty.

Keith Gillespie and Steve Davis brought things back to 2-2 six minutes into the second period before Giggs' superb curling free-kick winner just after the hour mark.

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