The Ukrainians sang the anthem wrapped in the flag, then the Tottenham striker improved his record and shortly after the Arsenal winger doubled his lead. Southgate full points
A sharp one at the end of the first half was enough for England to bend the opposition of Ukraine and secure the top of group C with full points. Southgate’s national team travels at cruising speed, without doing anything extraordinary but without conceding even a chance to their opponents. The one-two signed by the usual Kane and by Saka knocks out the Ukrainians, at the first of Ruslan Rotan on the bench.
Atmosphere
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Wembley is painted yellow and blue as a sign of peace. There are 4,200 visiting supporters, including 1,000 guests from the English Football Association, and players from Ukraine take to the field wearing their flag. Southgate changes three men compared to the Naples match against Italy, one for each department: Chilwell for the suspended Shaw, Henderson for Phillips in midfield and Maddison (debut from the first minute) for Grealish in the offensive trident. Rotan on the other hand relies on Yaremchuk up front, with Mudryk and Malinovskyi supporting him and Zinchenko in the middle in front of the defense together with Stepanenko.
The match
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The initial phases are not particularly enjoyable, the game is often interrupted by many hard contacts. Ukraine risked in the 8th minute due to Svatok’s hold on Kane which the Dutch Gozubuyuk didn’t consider enough to grant the penalty. The Tottenham striker comes off as the minutes go by, just before half an hour he awkwardly misses the ball at Walker’s suggestion, then fails to see the goal following the development of a free kick. It’s the technical tests of the goal – the 55th in the national team – which arrives in the 37th minute: good opening from Kane, who returns to the far post where Saka is precise to find him, the touch of an undersized plate is easy. Two minutes later the Arsenal full-back went on his own, inventing a feat. He receives from behind, turns around with a feint and lets go with a surgical left at the top corner.
The recovery
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England lowers the intensity, exploits the quality of their setters to maintain domination of the game and defuse the ambitions of the Ukrainian playmakers. Maddison has a good chance in the 51st minute, but shoots high. Rotan tries to shuffle the cards, first by changing Malinovskyi’s position and then relying on the bench, without however obtaining any interesting results. Gallagher almost scored the third goal after Chilwell’s cue on the left, the shot is close and central and Trubin clears it for a corner (86′). In the end, Harry Kane deserved a standing ovation at Wembley, who on Thursday became the best scorer in the history of the Three Lions national team and today he promptly improved his record.
March 26, 2023 (change March 26, 2023 | 20:29)
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