What a difference three days make! This match was much more like the England we enjoy watching, full of attacking flair and control, and great goals too. It was always going to be one match that the Scots would relish and for their fans it is the only game they desperately want to win more than any others. But this time, even their most diehard fan would concede that England were a class above Scotland. Who would ever have thought that Graeme Souness would be England's greatest fan on the night, waxing lyrical after the match...... through gritted teeth, of course!

The match had a lively start with both sides showing plenty of hustle and bustle but as the game settled England were bossing the possession and Scotland hardly had a kick. On 19 minutes Marcus Rashford and Phil Foden combined only for Foden to shoot over. One of the more noticeable things different to the Ukraine game the previous Saturday, was the way England used the long ball over the top for their forwards to run onto. It gave the Scottish defence nightmares and they never really came to grips with it.

On 25 minutes, Jude Bellingham, becoming more influential every minute, was put through by Rashford, but his cross was deep, dropping for Kyle Walker out on the right. Walker, being now a 'proven' goalscorer for England, hit a shot to the far post but it flew wide. Two minutes later, another great break by England, down the right this time, and when the cross came in only a desperate interception by a Scottish defender prevented a tap-in for Harry Kane. On 32 minutes Bellingham and Rashford combined in another good move, and the ball again fell to Walker. He tried again, firing a shot across goal, and there was Foden to brilliantly side-foot the ball past Angus Gunn in the Scotland goal.

Before the Scots had time to regroup, England scored again just three minutes later. More pressure from the lively England attack and when Rashford and Foden combined on the left, Foden's final cross should have been cleared by Andy Robertson. Unfortunately for the Scotland skipper, all he could do was place the ball perfectly for the inrushing, and following up, Bellingham, to crash home number two. It really was one-way traffic at this stage, although the Scots did try hard to pull one back before half-time. But England's defenders repelled the powder-puff attack with ease.

On 40 minutes Kalvin Phillips was rather harshly booked for a tackle where he clearly won the ball. It resulted in 'handbags' as the players jostled each other, and Bellingham and Jack Hendry were added to the referee's notebook. A late Scotland corner was easily cleared and right on the half-time whistle England so nearly added a third goal, but Foden's final pass was just too far ahead of Kane, and that followed a fine breakaway by England. The half had seen so much more from England as an attacking threat, and quite frankly the Scots had no answer.

After the break, Harry Maguire came on for Marc Guehi and the Scots had more possession when play restarted, but without threatening Aaron Ramsdale's goal, in fact he never had a shot to deal with all through. Having said that, the England goalkeeper did look a little suspect on his passing , being hurried at times and causing​ a few hearts in mouth moments. Nothing came from this though and Scotland continued to struggle.

On 65 minutes there was an excellent block by the impressive Lewis Dunk from a rare Scotland shot by Aaron Hickey. This came as Scotland had their best spell of the game and two minutes later they scored a rather fortunate goal to set up what might have been a tense finish. Robertson, atoning for his earlier blemish, was at the heart of the move and he ended up in the right-wing position, firing a low drive across goal. Maguire, who had done little wrong in his two appearances over the two England games, stuck out a foot, but only succeeded to put the ball past Ramsdale. Scotland couldn't even score the one goal they did get!

The goal spurred England back into life once more, as they had gone into their shell again for a short time. However, on 71 minutes a golden chance for John McGinn as a cross came in from the left from Robertson. The Aston Villa could have done much better had he headed the ball cleanly, but it came off his shoulder and flew over the bar. At that point Gareth Southgate took off Rashford and Foden and put Ebere Eze and Bukayo Saka, and almost immediately the former was through with a great run. This time Gunn dived at his feet and the ball was cleared. Kane then had the ball in the net but was pulled back for a foul, after Kieran Trippier's cross.

England now had their mojo back and they controlled the remainder of the match. Good pressure from England after 79 minutes won a corner and two minutes later they sealed the result. Brilliant play again by Bellingham as he finished a fine run with a beautiful pass through to Kane, and the lethal weapon in the England attack, calmly shot past Gunn. There had been a good reaction from England to Scotland's goal and the result was never in doubt as the half progressed. England might have had another goal late on when substitute Conor Gallagher burst through into a good position but chose to pass, when a certain Bobby Charlton, would have blasted it at goal as he often did at Hampden Park. I'm sure though that Bobby would have loved this performance by England as it turned into an easy win for the visitors.

An easy win for England in Scotland, surely not?
 

Source Notes