It was the game everyone was talking about. The build-up had been bombastic as English and Welsh fans sized each other up to see who would take bragging rights in the group.
The English had been sucker punched by a late goal in the last game against Russia while the Welsh had Robson-Kanu to thank for winning them the game against Slovakia.
The game kicked off and things were scrappy with both team looking to get the upper hand. Wales seemed content to let England have the ball and boy did England have the ball, but they were unable to fashion clear-cut chances.
When they did create one, it fell to Raheem Sterling. The £50m pound signing from Liverpool skied the ball when hitting the net would have been easier. There wasn’t much else that happened in the half till Gareth Bale stepped up.
It was a free-kick from a little far out, Bale hit it sweetly and Joe Hart pushed it into the net. There would be questions over the goalkeeping as while it was a lovely goal, Hart certainly could have done better.
The second half started with a double change. Daniel Sturridge came on for the ineffective Sterling while Harry Kane was hauled off for Arsenal target Jamie Vardy.
The Leicester man duly delivered when he pounced on an errant header from Ashley William to put the ball past Wayne Hennessey. 1-1
Later on, 18-year-old Marcus Rashford was introduced for Adam Lallana making him the youngest Englishman to represent the 3 lions in the Euros.
England huffed and puffed and it looked like it would be one of those frustrating days and the Welsh will come away with a draw, but things turned around pretty quickly. England worked the ball into the box, Jamie Vardy did a Giroud and just touched it lightly to Rashford who took the ball in stride but fell over, Sturridge retrieved it and bundled the ball home.
There was ecstasy everywhere as that was just about the last attack of the game, England won it and now only need a point against Slovakia to assure themselves qualification.
Leave a Reply