England overcame a
decent start by Scotland before taking all three points
in a 3-0 win at Wembley. Headed goals from Daniel
Sturridge, Adam Lallana and Gary Cahill were the undoing
of Gordon Strachan's side. Scotland made the
better start and mustered the first shot after three
minutes when captain Darren Fletcher miscued an effort
that bounced well wide. England, looking lethargic in
the early stages at a packed national stadium, soon had
further cause for concern when, with five minutes gone,
Hull midfielder Robert Snodgrass whipped in a free kick
that was punched clear of the danger zone by Joe Hart.
But the hosts finally flickered into attacking life as
the 10-minute mark approached as Lallana saw his run
down the left ended by a tidy challenge from Ikechi
Anya. Just four minutes later, England called for
a penalty when Raheem Sterling went down under a
challenge from Lee Wallace, only for the referee to wave
their appeals aside. Wayne Rooney saw a free kick
deflected wide of the mark after 19 minutes before
Scotland forward Leigh Griffiths was in action inside
his own area to block the resulting corner. Five
minutes later England led when Sterling's blocked effort
from the edge of the box fell to Kyle Walker, whose fine
cross was stylishly headed home by Sturridge. Griffiths
saw an effort deflected behind, with John Stones getting
in the way, and Grant Hanley powered a header off target
when left unattended from a corner. Moments later,
Griffiths tried an optimistic shot when the unmarked
Snodgrass was in the clear outside him after Rooney had
given the ball away as England escaped a problem of
their own making. Fletcher blazed over from
outside the box after evading Rooney's challenge as
Scotland worked their way back into the game.
Scotland began the second half in the same way as they
had the first, pressing high and creating an early
opening when Snodgrass fed Anya only for him to
completely mis-control down the right. The visitors had
another chance when a cross into the area was left for
James Forrest, who could only prod his low shot wide of
the post, before Stones blocked another effort from
Snodgrass after some smart build-up play. Within
moments, Scotland were made to pay for those missed
chances as Lallana guided a header home from an arrowed
Danny Rose cross. A James Morrison effort was
stopped by Hart as Strachan's side tried to find a route
back into the game. Cahill was booked for pulling
back Forrest, meaning that he will miss England's
next qualifier at home to Lithuania in March, but
that was forgotten soon after the hour when he scored
the third to put the game beyond any doubt, heading a
Rooney corner past Craig Gordon. Sterling should
then have made it four when he blazed over from close
range after a superb one-two between Lallana and
Henderson had freed the latter to cross. England
coach Gareth Southgate made his first change, taking off
opening goalscorer Sturridge and replacing him with
Leicester's Jamie Vardy, before Sterling tried to pass
when he should have shot and saw his attempted through
ball come to nothing. Rooney was booked for a late
foul on Leigh Griffiths as England saw out the closing
moments of the latest game against their oldest rivals
with no difficulty.
Editor
Ger Harley
(ger@scottishfitba.net)
Admin Team
(admin@scottishfitba.net)
This is Scottish-Fitba.Net
Source: DSG