"THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT" The Daily Mirror

England Team

Iceland Team

    Match Report by Mike Payne

As part of the Nations Cup this game at Wembley between England and Iceland had no extra significance for either side, but it did give England a chance to finish the group on a high, and an opportunity for players to impress the manager.  And by and large, they did just that.

Jack Grealish picked up straight away from where he left off in Belgium, and it was he that gave Mason Mount an early chance. Mount’s shot was blocked but it was obvious from the start that England would have lots of possession and be on the front foot for most of the time. After Jordan Pickford punched away a cross, Grealish combined with Mount and Bukayo Saka in a good move, only ended by a linesman’s flag. Kyle Walker had been sent off in the earlier match in Iceland, and in the 12th minute of this game he was in trouble again, picking up a booking for a soft challenge. The match was quite sedate, with not much happening as 15 minutes on the clock ticked by. It quite obviously needed a goal to liven things up.

After 20 minutes England duly opened the scoring following a free-kick. Grealish was fouled, as he often is, and the kick beautifully flighted in from Phil Foden was met by Declan Rice and the West Ham player showed his obvious delight in notching a good goal with a glancing header. Afterwards he said that it had come off his shoulder, and there was a case for offside had VAR been in use, but Rice certainly didn’t care too much about any of that as he had just scored his first goal for England in a moment he won’t forget in a hurry.

Now we’re talking as England step up a gear! The home side pushed forward and immediately it was almost a second for England. More good play from Grealish saw him cut the ball to Saka, who slightly miscued his close range shot and saw goalkeeper Ogmundur Kristinsson claw the ball away with a strong right hand. It was a fine save, but almost immediately, it really was 2-0. In the 24th minute Saka, looking very accomplished down the left, sent over a fabulous cross. It eluded Harry Kane, twice, but then ran free to Mount, who controlled the ball cleverly with his body before poking home a left-foot shot into the corner.

On the half-hour a marauding run down the left by Harry Maguire was spotted by Kane whose pass was a good one. After he picked up possession Maguire saw Foden in the clear on the right. A fine pass from Maguire set him up but once again the goalkeeper saved the day for the bewildered Iceland players. Four minutes later and Foden has another free run at goal and he let fly from 20 yards. This time Kristinsson dived full length to fingertip the goalbound shot round the post for a corner. England were well on top at this stage. Kane, without an England goal this year, did everything in his power to score on this night, continually putting in goal attempts. In the 37th minute a dribble and shot saw him pull the ball just wide and that was immediately followed by a curler that also drifted the wrong side of the post.

That was the last real action of the first-half and after the break Iceland changed their keeper, with the impressive Kristinsson going off to be replaced by Hannes Halldorsson. (They do like long names in Iceland!) Iceland were the first to show after the break with a rare attack that forced Eric Dier into a hurried clearance. The visitor’s task became even harder though after 54 minutes gone. Birkir Mar Saevarsson, who had already been booked earlier in the game, was penalised again for pulling back Saka as the full-back went past him onto another Kane pass. The referee deemed it another yellow card offence and out came the red card as well! Ironically, on the hour, the ten men almost pulled a goal back when Kari Arnason headed wide at the near post when he really ought to have scored.

Kane continued with his one-man mission to score a goal, with a shot that was blocked by a defender. He also tried with a free-kick, but that struck the defensive wall. He had played so well and kept pressing for the goal he craved but it was not his night. After the free-kick miss he was substituted as he and Grealish went off to be replaced by Jadon Sancho and Tammy Abraham. England had just previously brought on Tyrone Mings and Harry Winks for Walker and Mount. The half had been a little muted, but in the 80th minute it all burst into life again.

A fabulous move down the left involving Sancho and Saka ended with the former teeing up Foden who stroked home an excellent finish with his educated left-foot. And that wasn’t the end of Foden’s impressive night as five minutes later he received a pass from Winks, took a couple of strides and fired in a superb ground shot that flew past the keeper for number four. And with that goal Foden became the youngest England player to score two goals in a match at Wembley.

A good win for England, as they outclassed the Icelanders. This current crop of England players really do look good at times, and if manager Gareth Southgate can sort his best eleven and his best formation, then who knows what they might achieve.
 

Source Notes