Contentment makes people lenient. After the 1-0 win over Azerbaijan, the English public might stay mellow on hearing that Sven-Goran Eriksson has pardoned David Beckham and declared the matter closed. The captain's boast of engineering a booking against Wales to serve a suspension while injured had landed the England coach with needless uproar and sermonising before a World Cup qualifier.

A reference to the proverb "silence is golden" was as far as Eriksson went in scolding Beckham. "He thought about what was best for England," said the coach. "If it's right or wrong is another question."

Beckham had phoned Eriksson in contrition. The two men appear to agree that broadcasting the truth was a more substantial offence than lunging at Ben Thatcher.

"David should think next time that talking is silver, but quiet is gold," the coach said. It is a maxim by which Eriksson lives. He is emollient despite a controversy that must exasperate him for its sheer avoidability. "For me, it's over," he said of an issue that never led him even to think of taking the captaincy from the midfielder.

FIFA are powerless in this matter, but Eriksson is not sure yet whether the Football Association will intervene. It may act soon, if only by issuing a statement. "We will obviously have to reflect on David's strong apology," an FA spokesman said, hinting that Beckham has atoned sufficiently for his sins.

The chairman Geoff Thompson has been appeased, but there are figures within the FA who feel that a ruling body should not be quite so tolerant.

The trouble is that the few options open to them all lead to further harm. Charging Beckham with bringing the game into disrepute would prolong the furore. Deciding to leave him out for, say, the next qualifier with Northern Ireland would rile the other players and weaken Eriksson's squad. All in all, it might suit the FA best just to issue a waffling reprimand.

The subject can only peter out. The coach will do no more than argue that naughtiness is part of football. The Swede knew, too, that his proposal of doubling the punishment when a player is known to have winkled a yellow card out of the referee is futile. Unless a footballer blabbered like Beckham, the case could never be proven.

Eriksson can expect to have his captain available for the home qualifiers with Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan in March. At the end of which, England's grip on Group Six should be lasting. Life without Beckham was, in any case, perfectly tolerable.

The side's display ought to be appreciated on an occasion when the weather hurled itself at them with more vehemence than Azerbaijan ever could. Jermaine Jenas was a serviceable understudy for Beckham as he worked in a tidy, uncomplicated manner.

England acted as circumstances prompted, controlling the match until Michael Owen put them ahead and containing Carlos Alberto's team after the interval. While Azerbaijan are not the most exacting of scrutineers, Rio Ferdinand's standards had to be celebrated again as he was poised in situations that would have harassed a lesser defender.

With Nicky Butt also around to screen the back four, England were invulnerable against opponents whose challenge was spasmodic. The solidity of Eriksson's side caught the eye on a night when the spontaneous players rarely enlivened the action. Wayne Rooney, closely marked, did not overwhelm the match as England have come to expect.

Jermain Defoe, with a riveting performance and goal in Poland, had raised questions about the side's system and brought about the switch to a three-man attack. Subsequently, the Spurs attacker has looked as if he still needs time to ripen at international level. The virtual 4-3-3 formation will not be standard practice for Eriksson.

"It depends on who we play and it depends on where we play," he said. It is intriguing to see Owen, Defoe and Rooney fielded together, but they do not complement one another perfectly. In particular, England may bottle themselves up since Owen alone has a taste for pulling wide to take a pass.

Gary Neville and Ashley Cole, who crossed sharply for the goal, cannot be expected to get forward constantly from the full-back positions. Eriksson is also mindful that it would be headstrong of England to afford better sides the same numerical superiority in midfield.

Conditions were unco-operative, but it was still a concern that England's tactics led to few close-range opportunities. Owen, nonetheless, did head home on one such occasion for his 28th goal in 65 appearances. Perhaps he will return to Real Madrid feeling more like a galactico.