In an eminently forgettable first half, the deadlock was finally broken with the last kick of the 45 minutes. Thanks to Theo Walcott, who pierced the Estonia's robust defence, England went into the half-time break not with boos echoing from the 75,427 crowd, but with embers of the cheers from the goal.
Ross Barkley produced an inch-perfect through ball to the in-running Arsenal striker. He beat the offside trap, took one touch and the side-footed the ball home with his right boot, from six-yards out, past a flat-footed Mihkel Aksalu.
Up to that point, while England dominated possession, they failed to make the Estonia goalkeeper make a worthwhile save.
In the absence of slipper Wayne Rooney, Chelsea's Gary Cahill carried the mantle of wearing the armband. He did it with his customary poise.
But 10 minutes into the second half he must have worried that his debut match as skipper was going to come to a premature end, when, after climbing above Sergi Zanjov, he fell badly, crashing down on his right elbow.
After a minute tenderly massaging the injured area, he signalled that he was okay and manfully got on with his game.
In truth this was a non-event of a game, and the crowd knew it too, they left in their droves as soon as the 80 minute mark was reached.
Those that left missed the second goal, a gap-in by Raheem Sterling, after substitute Jamie Vardy's simple byline pass set up the Manchester City winger to plonk the ball home with consummate ease.
England finish their group matches in Lithuania on Monday with only a 100 per cent success rate to play for.
England: Hart, Clyne, Bertrand, Millner, Cahill, Smalling, Walcott, Barkley, Stling, Kane, Lallana.
Subs. but land, Heaton, Walker, Jones, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jagielka, Townsend, Shelvey, Vardy Alli, Gibbs.