Match Summary

England Team

Spain Team

This was a good test for Gareth Southgate and his team in this, the last match of his four game tenure in temporary charge of England. In the end he remained unbeaten and but for a cruel twist at the end, mighten have gained an impressive victory.

Spain arrived at Wembley with some of their top stars unavailable, but nevertheless they had some fine players on show and straight away they dominated the early possession.  England set themselves up to frustrate and, when possible, pressure the Spaniards.  At least this timeeryone was on it from the start for the home side and although goal chances were few and far between in the first seven minutes it was already an intriguing contest.  Then, a minute later, England scored.  Adam Lallana won possession down the right wing and looked up before threading a sublime pass into the path of Jamie Vardy.  Vardy's first touch wasn't that good but it took the ball away from the onrushing Pepe Reina in goal.  Reina's challenge brought Vardy down and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty.  Lallana coolly despatched the spot-kick confidently and England were in the ascendency.

Spain hit back quickly and Vitolo went close after some lovely football from the visitors.  They expertly kept possession at times, but aseryone knows, possession doesn't win football matches, it is goals that count and Spain's efforts on goal ranged from feeble to non-existent in the first half.

On 25 minutes England received a blow when Lallana had to go off with an injury of some sort, he walked off okay but it was obviously serious enough to end his match.  Theo Walcott replaced him but three minutes later England almost gave the ball away once too often, but Spain failed to capitalise.  A couple of bookings followed, with Raheem Sterling getting a yellow card for a foul and Inigo Martinez likewise for Spain.

England did some good pressing at times, when the opportunity arose, and it was obvious that Spain did not like being put under pressure.  Walcott had a shot but was then booked shortly afterwards, and then great interplay by England ended with Sterling's dangerous cross being cleared, but only just.  On 38 minutes more good play by England almost brings a second goal as Vardy narrowly failed to reach another Sterling cross.  Seeing Spain struggle at the back gave England plenty of encouragement.  At the other end Spain were struggling to find a way past some determined English defending in which Gary Cahill and John Stones stood out.

Danny Rose became the third English player booked before half-time and it was imperative that England continued with their high level of concentration as Spain slick passing had to be matched at all times by clever and watchful defending.  The half ended with England still comfortably holding their lead after a very hard-working display.  Led by their impressive captain Jordan Henderson, England definitely deserved their slender lead.

After Tom Heaton (for Joe Hart) and Phil Jagielka (for Cahill) came on as substitutes at the start of the second half England so nearly scored with their first attack after the change round.  Walcott burst through on a through pass but his shot was deflected wide by a desperate defensive lunge.  England were not to be denied though and on 48 minutes, following a great move, the ball found Henderson on the right.  He put over a fine cross and there was Vardy to quickly nip in front of a defender and power home a terrific diving header.  Spain were clearly rattled by the pressure on their back players and the goal deservedly punished them.

Two minutes later and it should have been 3-0.  Vardy put a fine pass through to Walcott and the Arsenal winger tried to place the ball to Reina's right.  The goalkeeper managed to get down well to palm the ball away but the ball eventually ran to Henderson.  Unfortunately the skipper screwed his shot wide of the far post.  It was a golden chance, especially for Walcott, and it should have been taken.

It took Spain 55 minutes to finally force a save from the England goalkeeper but Heaton easily handled David Silva's effort.  Spain did begin to offer more up front, especially after two substitutions.  Koke forced another, better save from Heaton before Sterling and Jesse Lingard combined to almost force a breakaway goal, before on 70 minutes Alvaro Morata forced another good save by Heaton.  Spain now had better options going forward but Gareth Southgate replied by sending on two more attackers in Marcus Rashford and Andros Townsend.  Both teams were now going for it.  There were chances at both ends and Aaron Cresswell came on for his debut in place of Rose.  Spain pressed but with Stones in commanding form England were holding out.  Finally, with 89 minutes on the clock, Spain pulled a goal back with a wonderful shot by substitute Iago Aspas.

For once England were caught short of players at the back and Aspas picked the ball up on the right, cut inside and curled a tremendous left-foot shot in off the far post.  It was the first goal conceded in Southgate's reign, but it was a good one that you sensed gave Spain a chance.  A groan went around the stadium when five minutes of added time was announced and another substitute, Isco, looked certain to equalise until Stones managed to deflect his shot for a corner.  But Isco was to get another chance with just seconds left.  A long ball forward cleared the head of Eric Dier and Isco brought the ball down and fired through Heaton's leg from a tight angle for a heartbreaking equaliser.

If you are honest you have to say that Spain deserved the draw, but the manner in which it came was very disappointing from an England point of view.  89 minutes gone and 2-0 up, they really should have seen it out safely.  However, Spain are one of the best teams in the world and never give up, but England can be proud of their efforts.  It was a very hard-working performance and if Walcott had converted that chance in the 50th minute then maybe, just maybe, Southgate would have had a famous win.  It remains to be seen if I will be reporting on the next England match with the same manager in charge.  I personally think he deserves the job, but then, what do I know?
   

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Mike Payne - football historian and contributor