📰 Table Of Contents
Result
England played out their final match of the March international break on Tuesday.
The Three Lions faced off with Ivory Coast in a friendly meeting at Wembley.
Given the nature of the tie and the number of players who have already pulled out of the squad due to injuries or Covid-19 this month, the former Middlesbrough boss was expected to field something of a makeshift team and did exactly that.
Despite not having his best eleven on the field, however, Southgate was still able to guide England to a victory on the day.
The home side dominated from the get-go and took the lead towards the end of the first half when Raheen Sterling’s low cross was tapped into an open goal by Ollie Watkins.
The skill from Raheem Sterling in the build-up 🤤
Ollie Watkins gives England the lead over the Ivory Coast! 🦁 pic.twitter.com/SMsVGbAMfA
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) March 29, 2022
Ivory Coast were then down to 10 men after 39 minutes when Serge Aurier was shown a second yellow card and this put to bed any small chance the away side had of getting back into the game.
England player ratings
Nick Pope (5) – Hardly touched the ball but was reliable when called upon.
Ben White (5) – Had very little to do in the first half and was taken off at the break.
Harry Maguire (7) – Great long-ball to start the move for England’s second of the day. Continued to venture forward and help start moves.
Tyrone Mings (7.5) – Another solid showing from Mings who is proving to be a decent back-up option for England in the left-sided centre-back spot. Good header for England’s 3rd.
Tyrick Mitchell (5.5) – Had little to do during his hour on the pitch but did what he had to do well.
Declan Rice (6) – Helped break up play well and was solid in his passing.
James Ward-Prowse (5) – Quiet game from the midfielder. A few creative passes and the odd long-range effort but nothing to write home about.
Jude Bellingham (7.5) – Intricate link-up play early on to carve out a chance for himself but could not finish. Continued to cause problems going forward throughout his time on the pitch.
Raheem Sterling (8.5) – Excellent footwork to create space and slide the ball across the box for a Watkins tap-in. Scored himself shortly before the break.
Jack Grealish (8) – Bright start to the game, linked well with Bellingham and Sterling as well as creating some chances for himself. Set up Sterling for England’s second.
Ollie Watkins (8) – Scored an easy tap-in for England’s opener and then controlled the ball well before laying it off to Sterling in the build-up to the latter’s goal. Off after 62 minutes.
Substitutes
Kyle Walker-Peters (5) – A quiet 45 minutes for the full-back who did little wrong.
Luke Shaw (6) – Crossing was decent when he came on. Had little to do defensively.
Emile Smith Rowe – Looked lively when he came on but didn’t create an awful lot.
Harry Kane (4.5) – A quiet sub appearance from the captain.
Phil Foden (4.5) – Decent 30 minutes from the Manchester City man.
Conor Gallagher (4) – Did little with his 13 minutes on the pitch.
Ivory Coast player ratings
Badra Ali Sangare (4) – Good save to deny Jude Bellingham early on. Poor parrying of the ball in the build-up to England’s second.
Simon Deli (2.5) – Had an absolute nightmare trying to deal with Raheem Sterling.
Serge Aurier (1.5) – Sloppy defending in the build-up to Watkins’ goal. Was then sent off towards the end of the first half.
Eric Bailly (4) – Poor marking for the Watkins opener. Taken off after 45 minutes.
Hassane Kamara (5) – Poor marking for the Watkins opener.
Franck Kessie (4) – Struggled to help his side gain any sort of foothold in midfield.
Jean Michael Seri (3.5) – Made a number of poor tackles and gave the ball away several times.
Maxwel Cornet (3) – Taken off after 63 minutes after failing to cause England any issues.
Nicolas Pepe (4) – Only half-chance of Ivory Coast’s first half fell to Pepe but he wasted it. Was then taken off at the break.
Sebastien Haller (3) – Spent the entire game isolated up front on his own.
Max Gradel (3) – Hardly had any impact on the match before being hooked at half-time.
Substitutes
Willy Boly (5) – Helped keep Kane quiet when he came on.
Emmanuel Agbadou (3) – Did little whilst on the pitch.
Fousseny Coulibaly (2) – Did little to help Ivory Coast’s problems in midfield.
Ghislain Konan (N/A)
Yohan Boli (N/A)
What they said
Jack Grealish speaking to Sky Sports: “I thought it was a good performance from us. We knew it would be difficult to start but the red card changed things completely. It was a different type of game to what we’re used to playing. It was a good performance from the team and I’m happy with mine too.
“I wanted [Serge Aurier] to stay on because it’s a friendly and you get more from playing against 11. I think it would have been more of a challenge for us. I said to the referee ‘come on!’
“I asked Raheem Sterling if there was any chance he was passing to me before! No, I’m just happy to get goals and assists. They have been difficult to come by at Manchester City but with England I have got quite a few. I want to continue playing well because I’m really enjoying it.
“Of course, I’ve spoken to Pep Guardiola. He’s shown me every other stat in the world that you would be happy with apart from goals and assists. He’s the only person I need to impress but if you’re a forward you want to get goals and assists so hopefully in the business end of the season I can get them.
“It’s a brilliant time to be in my shoes. We’re in so many competitions still and then at the end of the year we have the World Cup. I need to keep impressing the manager to get into that squad.”
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