ENGLAND DOMINATE WALES AT WEMBLEY
England produced a classy first-half display to comfortably see off Wales in an international friendly at Wembley on Thursday.
Thomas Tuchel made some enforced changes to the team who hammered Serbia in the last international window, with Ollie Watkins replacing the injured Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka and John Stones returning, and Djed Spence making his first start at left-back.
But England picked up where they left off in Belgrade, playing phenomenal football as a midfield three of Elliott Anderson, captain Declan Rice and Morgan Rogers controlled the game right from the off.
Rogers’ clever finish gave England the lead after just three minutes, following good work from Marc Guehi to keep the ball in after the first of many inventive set-piece routines didn’t quite click. And Rogers then set up his Aston Villa teammate with the easiest of finishes eight minutes later, with Watkins controlling the ball on the line and tapping home from inches out.
Bukayo Saka made it 3-0 on 21 minutes with the goal of the night, curling an excellent finish into the far top corner, and England could have had many more in a first-half display where the left-sided partnership between Anthony Gordon and Spence was particularly fruitful.
Watkins suffered an injury scare shortly before the break, landing awkwardly when he failed to finish another golden close-range chance and was taken off as a precaution at half-time. And the second half didn’t quite hit the same heights, although the chances continued to flow, with Gordon and Saka frequently involved.
Wales, who have a huge World Cup qualifier against Belgium on Monday, improved as the game went on, shutting down more space in midfield and creating some chances of their own, with Jordan Pickford twice called into action, making smart stops to deny David Brooks and Chris Mepham.
But the night belonged to England, who have six wins and six clean sheets in seven games under their manager Thomas Tuchel, who appears to be tuning things up nicely ahead of next summer’s World Cup.
