Didn’t Henderson get injured before the game ? Thought I heard one of the commentators say something like that ?
Great character from the players. First Euro qualifier Italy have lost in 41 games. Superb first half, with Rice, Bellingham and Phillips running the midfield. Yey again, we sit back after dominating and nearly paid the price. I actually thought we'd hang on once we were down to 10 men. Great result in a difficult place. Swap Rashford for Grealish when he's fit.
I might have misheard but I thought they said something about him being out just before they kicked off. The kids were p***ing me off and arguing at the time so I could be wrong.
Good win at last against them, excellent 40 mins in first half after almost conceding twice in first 5 mins. Awful 2nd half after just sitting back and inviting the inevitable Italy backlash. Yet again Southgate waited until we'd conceded before making any changes. Got away with it in the end , against it has to be saud, one of the weakest Italian sides I've ever seen. A good 3 points but unfortunaty down the line, I still don't think Southgate has learnt what to do when it really matters !
A couple of further thoughts. It isn't a great Italian team by any means, but they showed 2nd half that they're decent. England were so good first half that Italy were made to look very poor. If show pony Grealish had side footed his easy chance we'd have been out of sight. These are the games we have to start finding ways to win and we did. A special mention to Kane. Often maligned, which is bizarre, but becoming England's all time top goal scorer is a massive achievement. Must have been tough doing it with a penalty after the WC. He played really well too. Special mention for Rice, who was man of the match and the best midfielder on the pitch.
Kane is the best player in the Premier League, I reckon. I said this in the pub the other day and it drew some dissent, but when I asked the dissenters to name someone better, they struggled. Rice was very good last night. He broke up opposition play as usual, but also got into attacking positions and scored a goal, which is what his game generally lacks. Even Phillips almost scored, and these two getting forward alternately contributed to England looking so good in the first half. In the second half they reverted to playing as auxiliary defenders, standing in front of the back four and inviting Italy to attack, and England almost threw the game away. Southgate's ultra-cautious attitude is massively frustrating.
Harry Kane is not England's leading all time goalscorer. That honour belongs to Own Goals who have scored 57 in favour of England. State of the sports reportage in this country.
Lyndon Dykes on for Scotland in 56th minute after Che Adams gets injured. Good for him to get some more game time under his belt
