Match Summary

England Team

Lithuania Team

Once again England were faced with inferior opposition at Wembley in this, the latest group match, on their journey to the European Championships in France next year.  England still had to negotiate this hurdle though, and in the end they despatched Lithuania clinically and efficiently and will now move on to the next challenge.

England were on the front foot from the start of the match and as early as the fourth minute they so nearly took the lead.  Fabian Delph prodded the ball forward and it set Wayne Rooney free of the defence, as the goalkeeper, Giedrius Arlaukis came out, Rooney side-footed the ball past him.  Unfortunately the ball hit the inside of a post and trickled along the line and out for a goal-kick.  Just three minutes later though, Raheem Sterling was challenged and Danny Welbeck pounced on to the loose ball.  He surged towards goal before unleashing a fierce shot which Arlaukis parried upwards only to see the alert Rooney following up to head home a very well-taken goal.

Play settled down for a while with England in control and on 19 minutes they created another chance.  This time Sterling found Welbeck and a fine run and cross to the far post saw Rooney there again.  His looping header back across goal beat the keeper but cannoned back of the angle of bar and post.  Jordan Henderson could only shoot over from the rebound.  Before this match Rooney just needed three [ed:four] goals to reach Bobby Charlton's goals record total of 49, and here we were on 20 minutes and Rooney had already scored once and hit the woodwork twice.

The game went into a quiet spell over the next 20 minutes with England in total control and with Lithuania's attacking ideas limited to just one left-wing cross taken off Deivydas Matulevičius's toes by a block by Phil Jones.  England, meanwhile, did not create too much during this period either, although both Henderson and Leighton Baines scuffed decent chances.

As the half drew to a close, Rooney saw a low free-kick well gathered by Arlaukis and then from another free-kick the lively Welbeck drove forward to curl a good shot just over.  At this stage the crowd were getting just a little restless at England's inability to finish off Lithuania, but the mood was lifted when England finally added a second goal just before the break.  Welbeck, who had just had a penalty appeal turned down, was in the middle as Henderson drove in another low cross.  Welbeck stooped low to glance a header goalwards and the ball went in off of a defender.

The second half began with England still pushing forward and dominating the game.  Only an outstanding save from Arlaukis kept out an excellent volley by Delph, following a fine Rooney cross.  The pace of Sterling, Rooney and especially Welbeck caused the Lithuanian defence all sorts of problems throughout, and Welbeck again went down in the area after what appeared to be a trip.  Again the referee would have none of it though.  On 58 minutes Rooney burst down the right and he fired in the perfect low cross which Sterling sprinted on to, scoring with a close range effort, his first goal for his country.  An identical move a minute later so nearly brought another goal, but this time a defender managed a touch to clear the danger.  As Lithuania visibly tired it was only a matter of time before England would score again.  The other question that remained unanswered was exactly when Roy Hodgson would bring on man of the moment, Harry Kane for his first taste of England action.  Both of those questions were answered on 70 minutes when first Ross Barkley replaced Henderson, and then Kane came on for the England captain Rooney.  The tumultuous welcome that greeted the Tottenham man must have been a real tonic for the youngster and he responded as only he could.

England continued to dominate play, and when Michael Carrick found Sterling down the left, the Liverpool man jinked his way to the bye-line before sending over a tantalising cross to the far post.  And would you believe it, who should be there waiting, but Harry Kane, and he powered a downward header past the goalkeeper's despairing dive and the stadium erupted!  Kane had been on from between 78 to 80 seconds, depending which clock you believe, but his prolific season continued with yet another goal to add to his collection.

In the final minutes Matulevicius cleared off the line from man-of-the-match Welbeck, the striker's last action before being substituted by Theo Walcott, and then Delph again came close to scoring with a shot just wide.  England saw out the remaining minutes with ease and Lithuania seemed delighted in keeping the home side to just the four goals.  England won this match with plenty to spare and now hold a handsome lead at the top of the group.  In some ways it is good to see England so dominant, but a word of caution was being offered all round for the stiffer task the team might face when they play the finals next year, as they surely will.  The next game in Italy will be a much more interesting test to see how far we have come since the poor showing in the World Cup.
   

Source Notes