"ZINGER MINGER" - Daily Mirror

England Team

Austria Team

    Match Report by Mike Payne

In the great scheme of things, this friendly match hardly mattered before the mainent of the European Championships begins later this month.  However, it did give Gareth Southgate the chance to try a few things out, see how players in his squad were, and start the planning for upcoming fixtures.

With no Chelsea, Manchester City or Manchester United, players considered due to their involvement in European finals, the team had an experimental look about it, although with lots of familiar names, and the game had a lively start.  With just four minutes on the clock fine play and a pass from Harry Kane to Trent Alexander-Arnold, ended with a fizzing shot just touched over by Austrian goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann.  From the resultant corner, Jude Bellingham had a free header but his effort went straight at the keeper.  The visitors immediately hit back and England defenders had to be on their toes to clear any danger.  After eight minutes it was the Austrians turn to see a fierce shot go just over as Christian Baumgartner tried the first of several attempts by the lively striker.

Three minutes later and England had the ball in the net as good play down the left saw Bukayo Saka win a corner.  From the kick, the defence failed to clear properly, the ball ran to Jesse Lingard and his low shot at goal was turned in by Bellingham.  Alas, the goal was ruled out because Tyrone Mings was penalised for a foul on the keeper.

Over the next fifteen minutes play was fast and furious with the tough tackling visitors showing no mercy with their challenges.  Jack Grealish was particularly targeted, and he crashed to the ground on more than one occasion.  On 19 minutes Saka was the next to suffer as Xaver Schlager was booked for a reckless tackle on the Arsenal player.  From the free-kick, the ball reached Lingard whose clever lob then found Saka at the far post, but his volley flew high, wide and not so handsome.  This was followed by a dangerous breakaway from the Austrians which ended with a dangerous cross going wide with no-one able to touch it.  On 27 minutes Grealish was fouled again and from Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick, the ball was again cleared to Lingard and suddenly Kane was in on goal.  The goalkeeper dived at his feet though and saved the situation.

Declan Rice and Bellingham were working hard and effectively in midfield with both players making timely interceptions.  Both teams were pressing when the other side was in possession, so there was little time to settle on the ball.  The man in possession was quickly pounced on, by both teams, and into the last ten minutes of the half, Austria put some pressure on the England back line.  Following their first corner, Sasa Kalajdzic fired in a shot, which was easily saved by Jordan Pickford.  This encouraged the visitors though, and they moved the ball around well.  Mings came to the rescue with one fine block as Baumgartner was about to shoot, and although the ball hit his hand, the referee waved away tentative appeals for a penalty.  So, the half ended goalless, but not short on incident.

After the restart England were forced to defend and Stefan Lainer was booked after another foul on Saka.  The Austrians certainly didn’t hold back when it came to their tackles.  England’s free-kicks had been disappointing so far, and easily dealt with by the visiting defence.  Then, a little out of the blue to some extent, England took a 56th minute lead, and it was a good goal too.  A quick break from defence saw Kane in the inside-left channel.  His delightful pass found Lingard in full flight and his terrific touch sent Grealish in on goal, as bodies blocked and collided with the Aston Villa man, the ball ran for Saka, also up with the attack, and he slotted home from a tight angle for his first England goal.

Austria responded well to the setback though and were soon on the attack, determined to pull the goal back.  Baumgartner, who was dangerous throughout, saw another effort deflected for a corner, which was cleared by England.  At this point, manager Southgate decided the time was right for a raft of substitutions.  It was basically everyone off, and everyone else on!  At least that what it seemed like at the time.  It almost proved a disaster for Ben Godfrey as his first touch was to send the ball back to his Everton teammate, Pickford, except that Pickford had gone walkabout!  Thankfully the goalkeeper rescued Godfrey with a desperate clearance off the line.

As England tried to regroup after all the changes, Austria stepped up a gear forcing England to defend in numbers.  Conor Coady was having an excellent game though and was the calm head at the back.  One incident annoyed the England fans, as another of the subs, Dominic Calvert-Lewin put in a prestigious leap to head the ball, but caught an Austrian defender as he came down from a great height.  The referee, much to the crowd’s anger, decided it was dangerous play and booked the Everton striker.

As this half progressed England lost their rhythm a little, and at times looked very disjointed.  Grealish continued to impress with his clever runs and control and one dangerous cross was only just cleared.  It was the last act by the Villa player as he was then substituted by Ben White, of Brighton, who was making his debut.  White was quickly in the action with a terrific shot that flew just wide.  That would have been a great way of introducing yourself to international football.

On 80 minutes, Austria were pressing still, and Pickford had to make a fine diving save from Baumgartner, and the more annoying thing was that it was the visitors who were picking up the loose balls more often than not.   Three minutes later Alexander-Arnold worryingly pulled up after a clearance, he had played well, but this was an anxious moment for both player and team.  Meanwhile, Martin Hinteregger was booked after arguing about a foul he committed, and then a minute from the end Austria missed their best chance of equalising.  A cross from the right found Michael Gregoritsch on his own with a free header, but the substitute missed a sitter and held his head in his hands.

The last few minutes saw England hanging on somewhat, and down to ten men as Alexander-Arnold trudged off in despair.  Right on time, Pickford slapped a cross that dropped for a shot at goal which was cleared by White from the line.  In the end the final 1-0 score was secured.  England were a little lucky to win to be honest and Austria will be disappointed finishing with nothing for all their effort.  Without doubt England were affected by all the substitutions, but the exercise was a useful one and the crowd watching (how good it is to say that), went home delighted.
     

Source Notes