In the opening ten minutes it was a nervous
England against a Wales side determined not to give away early goals
as they did in Cardiff in March. England retained possession well
but didn't really threaten the Welsh goal. There was danger from a
corner, and if the referee could have seen the TV replay showing
Ashley Williams blatantly holding John Terry, then surely a penalty
would have been a certainty. Williams did it again at the next
corner, and again got away with it, before Gareth Bale's free-kick
was headed wide at the other end, also by Williams. England's only
real problems were all caused by sloppy play and Aaron Ramsey shot
over from one half chance created by England's mistakes.
But on the quarter hour England at last began
to show some positive intent and Stewart Downing put in two good
crosses, defended well by Wales. Wayne Rooney then chipped over
after good interplay with Ashley Young, and it was noticeable that
the pace from England's play was starting to increase. Goalkeeper
Wayne Hennessey cut out another cross from Downing and then punched
clear from Gary Cahill's head following a free-kick. On 27 minutes
a fine run and cross by Young ended with a volley from Downing which
flew over the bar.
England were determined to stifle Bale from
producing any of his dangerous runs, but James Milner went too far
when stopping the Tottenham man and incurred the wrath of the
referee who produced a yellow card. The pressure from England was
gradually increasing though and on 34 minutes they scored a fine
goal. The impressive Chris Smalling fed the ball to Downing and the
winger skipped round Joe Ledley before pulling the ball back to
Young. The new Manchester United star hit a clinical first-time
shot that beat Hennessey at his near post. It was a fine goal and
at this stage England just about deserved it. For the remaining ten
minutes of the half England dominated with fast possession football
and in one attack Rooney came within a whisker of scoring following
a clever short corner routine. Wales were hanging on and another
England goal then would surely have sealed victory. But the
visitors reached half-time with just the one goal deficit, so all to
play for.
England had grown more assured as the half
went on with Cahill, Terry, Smalling, Lampard and Barry giving good
solid performances whilst Downing and Young were lively going
forward. You felt that if England scored the next goal it would be
all over.
After the break England started where they
left off, Young's hard low cross being palmed away by Hennessey and
Barry storming into the box to fire a good effort just over.
Downing then went close as did Young again as it looked certain that
England would add to their goal advantage. But gradually, inspired
by their two quality players, Bale and Ramsey, Wales came back
strongly. Only a great tackle by Milner stopped Bale in full flow
and then Smalling just got a head to another dangerous Bale cross.
On the hour Barry set up Lampard for a shot
but the ball flew just over the bar, and then great play by Young
set up Milner for a shot which was deflected wide. The England
pressure increased as Hennessey flapped at a cross and Cahill fired
the loose ball over the bar. Rob Earnshaw came on for Steve Morison
and then Scott Parker replaced Lampard. Smalling was harshly
penalised for a foul, one of several irritating decisions against
England in the second half. Bale took the free-kick but it sailed
harmlessly over Hart's goal. Wales were relying on just one chance
to come their way and on 75 minutes that chance finally arrived.
But all it did was give the crowd the chance to see the miss of the
match!
This 'new' Wembley has seen its fair share of
sitters missed since it opened but this one took the biscuit. The
ball came into the box from a free-kick and Darcy Blake managed to
touch it across goal. In came Earnshaw to score what seemed an easy
goal from two yards out. Somehow though the Welsh substitute leaned
back too far and fired over the top. en
some of the England players had their heads in their hands! It was
an awful miss and a slice of luck for the home team.
Shortly afterwards Parker then made the pass
of the match, to Downing down the right, but this time the winger's
cross was poor and easily cleared. For me, after Lampard went off,
England slipped back into their sloppiness and lost their rhythm and
composure. With 80 minutes gone Joe Hart had to make his only save
so far when Gunter broke through, although the whistle had already
blown, presumably for offside, and then Earnshaw tried to atone for
his dreadful miss, with two weak late efforts easily dealt with by
England's goalkeeper.
In the end England comfortably managed to see
out the remaining minutes and hold on to the win. However, it was
none too convincing and was a very patchy performance, mixing some
good stuff with some not so good. But a win is a win and several
players had good games, with Cahill, Terry, Smalling, Lampard,
Barry, Downing and Young the pick. The formation showed that
playing one forward at home is okay provided the support is quickly
forward to help the frontrunner. When that support is not as
effective then the front man, in this case Rooney, is left isolated
too often. Credit to Wales though for playing well in yet another
defeat, and hopefully when they play against lesser opposition they
will raise their game to this level again. Somehow though I very
much doubt they will.
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England
Team
If
ever Wales were going to raise their game from their normal
mediocrity, it would be for the game at Wembley against the old
enemy, England. And to be fair the Red Dragons gave a good account
of themselves against a below par home side, who do seem to be
having difficulty playing at Wembley.
Source Notes