England striker Andy Carroll impresses Roy Hodgson with his work in little and large act up front James Milner, who began on the right, lifted little of note towards Carroll. Even when Hodgson began rotating his wide men, sending on Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson, the quality remained average at best. Carroll had to be feed on scraps. "I thought he was good,"" said Hodgson of Carroll. He performed very well. He was not only good for us when we had the ball but also very important for us defensively. I wanted to give Jermain Defoe a game but I didn't want to lose a major piece in our jigsaw for dealing with long throws and corners. Some caution is required. Bigger tests and better centre-halves lie ahead. A decent display in the Ullevaal does not mean France will be quaking in their boots, although Carroll did trouble Philippe Mexés at Wembley two years ago. Aged 23, Carroll remains an international ingénu. He has managed only one competitive minute for England, coming on for Wayne Rooney in the Euro 2012 qualifying win over Wales at Wembley. Carroll needs games, needs another outing next week against Belgium. He needs to keep clear of injury, too, as England's central attacking options are limited. Danny Welbeck must prove he has recovered from an ankle problem on Monday before Tuesday's Uefa deadline. Daniel Sturridge would step up but England still have no obvious understudy for Carroll. As the game unfolded, Carroll was quickly involved, heading Downing's rare decent cross wide, before creating Young's goal. He demonstrated good awareness and neat distribution to set Young off and running down the inside-left channel, turning Brede Hangeland inside out before shooting coolly past Rune Almenning Jarstein. England's fans had barely finished their ditty about local prices, rewriting Sloop John B into "I want to go home, I want to go home, Norway's expensive, I want to go home." A lone voice amongst the smart seats chanted occasionally "one Andy Carroll" but he remains a work in progress, echoing England. The range of his capabilities was still apparent, the striker rising to reach a long ball from Robert Green and then linking up well with Steven Gerrard in a quick-fire break along the ground. Carroll's movement was good, the forward always on his toes, always alert for loose ball such as when the ball cannoned off Scott Parker and fell his way. Carroll almost made another goal for Young when collecting James Milner's pass down the right after 26 minutes. Norway's defence was wide open but Carroll over-hit his square-pass. Even with that frustration, there seemed a good balance to the pair, a mix of power and pace. The critics will question the sophistication levels yet there was certainly an element of artistry to Young's goal. The United attacker kept parading his qualities, including dropping deep after 33 minutes, turning and teasing a marvellous pass to send Milner clear. Carroll darted into a good position, unmarked and dangerous, demanding the cutback from Milner but the Manchester City winger went himself, earning a shake of the head from Carroll. The Liverpool man continued to show his all-round usefulness, dropping back to help combating corners from Morten Gamst Pedersen and long throws from John Arne Riise. His tactical discipline also impressed. He could do with a goal, though. Better crosses would help.