England won their third World Cup qualifier against Andorra, but the scoreline does not reflect the struggles England faced, particularly during the first half.
Many fans who watched Saturday evening’s game may have also had the privilege to spectate Spain’s 5-4 victory over France over the week.
England’s match against Andorra on Saturday evening was not quite of the same ilk.
The Three Lions kept their clean sheet run intact, but their performance was more reminiscent of Gareth Southgate’s England than Tuchel’s Champions League-winning Chelsea.
England struggled to break Andorra down, but ran away 1-0 winners
Reuters
Tuchel named an experimental 11, with Curtis Jones, Dan Burn and Noni Madueke all starting, and Reece James filling in at left-back.
Despite the changes, more was expected from England when facing a side 172 places lower than them in the Fifa rankings.
The first half did not impress Tuchel, who struggled to break a smile.
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Harry Kane scored his 72nd England goal
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Despite setting up with a focus on attacking players, England struggled to create any real chances.
Morgan Rogers and Jude Bellingham showed flashes of class, but it was not incisive enough to break down a stern Andorra.
A lacklustre first half ended goalless, and England fans were not pleased with what they saw from their team.
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During the half-time break, they took to social media to make their feelings known.
One fan wrote: “This team can’t compete with teams like Spain/France or Portugal”.
Another said: “Struggling to score against literal plumbers and electricians.”
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England have won their opening three World Cup qualifiers
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A third added: “Horrid half. I don’t know what that was but it didn’t look like football to me.”
It didn’t take long for England to break the deadlock in the second half, however, with Harry Kane getting on the end of a Noni Madueke cross.
It was Kane’s 450th senior goal, and his 72nd in an England shirt.
Tuchel did make changes to the team, bringing on Eberechi Eze, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Declan Rice, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Gibbs-White, but it didn’t alter the stuttering manner of the game.
Andorra had one dangerous moment towards the end of the match, after a tricky run from Guillaume Lopez seemed to open the door to Jordan Pickford’s goal, only for it to be slammed in his face by Ezri Konsa.
England boasted 12 corners to Andorra’s 0, but struggled to garner any threat from set pieces, and also had 82 per cent of possession, but created little.
You don’t pick up points for entertaining football, you pick up points for winning games, and that couldn’t be truer in this match.
England travel back home to face Senegal on Tuesday, June 10 at the Forest Ground, Nottingham.
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