When reading the score line, you would automatically assume that It was easy going for England but that was far from it. The Three Lions were sluggish and for most of the match, failed to unlock the Maltese defence. At times, it almost as if we were all watching a repeat performance of when England lost to Iceland at the finals of Euro 2017. They couldn’t keep their width, played very narrow and failed to create many clear cut chances which resulted in the match being goalless in the first half.
The second half failed to Improve although England did take the lead in the 53rd minute when Dele Ali played through Harry Kane to slot the ball past the goalkeeper to give England the lead. Marcus Rashford then came on for Raheem Stirling and made a big difference with his pace down the wing.
As the match drew to a close, England got a second in the 85th minute as Ryan Bertrand’s long range shot flew past the goalkeeper into the bottom corner to double England’s lead. A third and fourth quickly followed with Danny Welbeck latching onto a lovely threw ball from Kane who then turned from provided to scorer as he bagged his second of the night to make it 4-0.
It was the vital 3 points that England needed to keep them in control of their qualifying group but when you look at the performance, the score was very flattering as England lacked the spark and creativity to unlock Mata’s defence through most periods of the game.
Daily Dose of Dalton 