Quick Wembley digest : The main points of interest as England make light work of Wales
- By Yann Tear at Wembley Stadium
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
The details:
England (3) 3 Rogers 3, Watkins 11, Saka 20
Wales (0) 0
Attendance: 78,126
Game in nutshell: England ran riot in the opening 20 minutes to effectively kill the contest.
With two-thirds possession and control of proceedings from the off, this was a classy performance and their best at home under Tomas Tuchel, even if it was only a friendly against a very accommodating Wales side.
Marc Guehi took advantage of dozing Wales defenders to stop a ball that looked to be going out of play before cutting back for Morgan Rogers to tap in for the first goal just three minutes in. Ollie Watkins then prodded in from close range after Wales failed to deal with a ball hoisted up to the back stick by Bukayo Saka for Rogers to plant back across to the Villa marksman.
Saka made it three with a trademark cut in from the edge of the box before curling home.
Wales showed more backbone after the break, pressing with more conviction to stem the onslaught but the damage had already been done.
The context: England are cruising towards World Cup qualification without even trying. They turned in some less than enthralling performances to dispose of Albania, Latvia and Andorra before finally coming good with a handsome 5-0 win in Serbia.
There are very few games left now before next summer's tournament, so this friendly offered the notional opportunity for Tuchel to experiment and/or increase cohesion among his squad.
The History: We may be living in something of a golden age of Welsh football, with recent qualifications for the Euros in France and the World Cup in Qatar, but they have still struggled against the Three Lions. England had won the seven previous encounters - including the wins In Lens and Qatar during those finals tournaments.
You have to go back to Wrexham in 1984 for the last Wales win - when the British Championship was still a thing and Bobby Robson was in charge for England. Mark Hughes got the winner on that long-forgotten occasion as far as the English are concerned.
Who stood out: Rice and Anthony Gordon ran those red shirts ragged to silence those Welsh fans - until they found their collective 'Bread of Heaven' voices of defiance during a far more respectable second half showing.
How did the capital's men on duty fare:
Declan Rice (Arsenal) 8: The orchestrator-in-chief seized control of the tempo from the word go. In superb form for club and country right now. Played 68 minutes until making way for Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Marc Guehi (Palace) 7: The Palace skipper is already having a wonderful season, regardless of that move to Liverpool that did not materialise. Sharp as a tack and set up the opening goal though picked up a yellow for a foul on Kieffer Moore.
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) 7: A sumptuous drive past Karl Darlow in the Wales goal. Looked like he is starting to find good form again. PLayed nearly 70 minutes.
Djed Spence (Spurs) 7: A nice little evening for the Spurs defender. Hardly tested, with Welsh attacks limited. Tidy on the ball and seemed to enjoy being part of the set up. Never afraid to venture forward.
Ben Davies (Spurs) 5 The experienced defender was unable to do anything about the tidal wave that hit the Welsh rearguard from the off. The Wales captain was replaced by Chris Mepham on 63 minutes.
Harry Wilson (Fulham) 4: Hard for the Fulham winger to get a toe-hold, with Wales so much on the back foot. Did manage a waft over the bar towards the end of the first half. Hooked after the hour.
Brennan Johnson (Spurs) 5: Had to chase a lot of shadows and struggled to make an impact against his club-mate Spence. Did well to last until the 75th minute.
Jordan Henderson (Brentford ) 6: The Bees midfielder replaced Elliott Anderson after 68 minutes.
Jarrod Bowen (West Ham) 6: Off the subs bench for the final quarter in place of Saka.
Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal): Given a run out late on in place of John Stones
What's next: England travel to Riga to play Latvia in their next World Cup qualifier on Tuesday. They are back at Wembley next month for the return fixture with Serbia on November 13 before completing their group fixtures in Albania three days later. Wales play Belgium (again) in their next qualifier on Monday.
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