FULL TIME: England 1-1 Italy
And that’s that! England will feel disappointed right now, having come so close to victory, only to be denied late on by James Tarkowski’s clumsy clip on Federico Chiesa and Lorenzo Insigne’s calm penalty. But they’ve won in Holland and now held Italy. They’d have surely taken those results, both of which will give them confidence going into the World Cup. Speaking of which, it’s not going to be quite the same without Italy in the summer, is it? Missing them already.
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90 min +4: Italy spend the best part of a minute slowly stroking short passes upfield. Suddenly Chiesa is free down the right. He loops a dangerous cross into the England area, but nobody in blue has taken a chance.
90 min +3: Did I say assured?! He nearly dribbles himself into trouble, with Sterling closing him down. But he scoops the ball away from danger at the last second.
90 min +2: The set piece is worked to Cook on the left. His cross is plucked from the sky by the assured Donnarumma.
90 min: There will be five added minutes! Plenty of time for one of these sides to find a winner. And both look up for searching for it. Sterling races down the left and very nearly frees Rashford with a flick inside.
89 min: Chiesa goes chasing a long ball down the middle. For a second it looks as though he’s got the better of Walker, but the England defender’s power and pace wins the day. And the flag goes up for offside anyway.
GOAL! England 1-1 Italy (Insigne 87 pen)
There’s a long pause as Walker finds himself in the middle of a big argument. Then finally Insigne steps up, and whips hard into the bottom left. Butland guessed right, yet had no chance to save a superbly struck penalty kick. England finally concede, after going five matches without letting one in!
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Penalty for Italy!
86 min: ... then performs the international mime for TV, and points at the spot! VAR has its knockers, but that’s the correct decision.
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85 min: VAR decision. Chiesa dribbles at speed down the left, and into the England box. He goes over screaming. Has Tarkowski stepped on his right boot? If so, this could potentially be problematic for England. The ref has a gander at the screen ...
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83 min: Young is booked for a glorious act of cynicism. He slips as he slides into a tackle by the left touchline, hurting his knee as he clanks off the pitch. Then to stop Italy taking a quick throw, he rolls back onto the pitch, demanding treatment. Which he gets, along with a yellow card and a lecture from the referee. Looks like he’ll be OK, which is the main thing.
82 min: Sterling bustles down the left yet again. He slips Cook away on the overlap. Cook’s cross so nearly drops for Rashford, who is leaping and pulling his neck back in the centre. But Rugani eyebrows it away from danger.
80 min: Gagliardini comes on for Pellegrini. Bonucci sends a long ball down the middle for Belotti, who very nearly takes it down spectacularly on the edge of the box. Not quite, but Italy are proving a threat all of a sudden.
79 min: Italy put together their best move of the match. Insigne lays off to Jorginho, then races off down the inside-left channel. Jorginho chips over the England back line. Insigne meets the dropping ball and nearly sends a dipping, screeching volley across Butland and into the bottom right. What a goal that would have been!
77 min: Italy are seeing more of the ball now - they’re not getting pushed back as they once were in this second half - but they’re not doing a great deal with it.
75 min: Rashford is quickly into the thick of things, advancing on the Italian box. He’s got Sterling on the left, but opts to go it alone, and in doing so is crowded out and can’t get a meaningful shot away.
73 min: Before the free kick can be taken, Henderson replaces Stones, who remains dizzy after being blootered in the face. Dier will drop back into the defence. Insigne looks to bend the free kick into the top right, but gets it all wrong.
72 min: Pellegrini turns on a sixpence, baffling Walker into a shirt tug that concedes a free kick just to the left of the England D - and earns the England defender a booking.
70 min: Stones takes a Zappacosta cross flush in the coupon. Ooyah, oof. That’s gotta hurt. While he gets some treatment, England swap Vardy and Lingard for Rashford and Cook.
68 min: Pellegrini dribbles with purpose and determination down the middle. The ball rebounds to Belotti, who nearly breaks through a weak Young challenge. Not quite. But there’s a little more desire in the Italian attack.
67 min: England play a series of one-twos down the inside-left channel, Lallana, Lingard and Sterling the entertainers. Sterling enters the box, leans back and, in looking for the top right corner, makes a rugby conversion. A poor finish to a very crisp move.
65 min: Rose hooks the free kick into the Italian box. Belotti heads it clear. Dier comes sliding through Chiesa, a heavy challenge that’s not appreciated. But neither does it result in a free kick. Chiesa shrugs in an expressive manner, half-amused rather than irritated.
64 min: Italy are struggling to get out of their half right now. De Sciglio is betrayed by his frustration as he hangs out a leg and upends Lallana down the right. A free kick, and a chance for England to load the box. But first Immobile is replaced by Belotti.
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62 min: Sterling has a crack from distance on the left, but there’s no force behind it and that’s easy meat for Donnarumma.
61 min: Young and Vardy combine well down the right to earn a corner for England. From the set piece, Lallana tries to Le Tissier a gentle volley into the top corner, but that was never as easy as the Southampton legend used to make it look.
60 min: ... while Rose replaces Trippier. He’ll be the left wing-back while Young moves to the right.
59 min: Sterling’s incessant pressing forces Donnarumma into hacking out of play under pressure. That allows England to make a double change. Lallana comes on for the impressive Oxlade-Chamberlain ...
57 min: Sterling buzzes again down the left, causing Italy no end of heartache. He really is a marvellous player. The best England have got? There’s a case for it. He slips a pass inside for Oxlade-Chamberlain, who checks back to the left before sending a shot straight down Donnarumma’s throat.
56 min: Candreva is replaced by Chiesa, whose first act is to take a speculative shot from the right-hand corner of the Italian box. It’s blocked at source.
54 min: Sterling battles hard down the left to win the ball off Rugani. He had no right to snatch possession there, but that showed superb determination. He flicks the ball inside for Young, who sways into the box, a lovely slalom. He works a nanosecond’s worth of space to shoot from a tight angle, and does so, but his effort’s blocked by a sliding Bonucci.
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53 min: ... nothing in particular occurs.
52 min: England continue to play it patient. Trippier slides a pass down the right for Vardy, who earns a corner. From which ...
50 min: Walker strokes a glorious crossfield pass towards Young, who sets off down the left and nearly releases Lingard into the area. Not quite.
48 min: Walker plays a loose ball down the England right. It’s intercepted by Insigne, who chips forward first time for Immobile. There’s a little too much on the pass, and Butland snaffles. But once again, England have been slack at the back. On another day, they’d have been punished severely for this nonsense.
47 min: England spend the first minute of the half stroking the ball about the back in the aesthetically pleasant style. Then suddenly Lingard bursts down the left. Pellegrini knocks him to the ground, fairly, to put a stop to his gallop.
And we’re off again! England get the party re-started. There have been no half-time changes.
Half-time reading:
HALF TIME: England 1-0 Italy
A decent half of football from England, who lead thanks to the quick wit of Jesse Lingard. A sharper striker than Ciro Immobile might have had a hat-trick, of course, but let’s not start pulling at threads.
44 min: Sterling clips a cute pass down the inside-left channel for Young, who can’t quite bring the ball under control and break into the box. After a bad start, England look impressive in attack, causing Italy all sorts of problems, coming at them from many angles.
42 min: The free kick is no good. “I don’t know if I am OK,” reports Giulio Ongaro. “I hate to be proven right in this case.”
41 min: And now Young goes flying in on Zappacosta near the England right-hand corner flag. It’s a wild challenge, and though it’s a free kick, he’s very lucky not to join Oxlade-Chamberlain in the book.
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40 min: Oxlade-Chamberlain tussles with Bonucci down the right. He’s flagged for a garden-variety shirt tug. But he doesn’t like the decision - he’d have been free in acres otherwise - and so boots the ball away in frustration. A silly yellow card.
39 min: Italy are once again caught short at the back as Sterling drives with purpose at the visiting defence. He feeds Young outside on the left. Young opens his body and tries a sidefoot across Donnarumma and into the bottom right. The ball clips off Zappacosta and is taken around the right-hand post. The corner’s no good.
37 min: Nothing much happens from that. “Dare I say it, but the kind of quick witted opportunism that Lingard just exhibited is exactly the kind of thing that England have been naively hopeless at in tournaments passim,” writes Phil Sawyer. “If you want me I’ll be hammering planks over the windows to try to keep that pesky beggar Hope out.”
36 min: From the set piece, Tarkowski finds the ball at his feet on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. He can’t quite sort himself out to shoot. No matter, because England are soon coming back at Italy again. Sterling races down the right, reaches the byline, and earns another corner off Bonucci.
35 min: A lovely move starts with Young cutting in from the left. Lingard and Sterling take turns to advance on the Italian box. Then Oxlade-Chamberlain chips a cross into the mixer from the right. Bonucci is forced to knock the ball out for a corner.
33 min: More space for Oxlade-Chamberlain, who romps down the right and tries to pull the ball back for Vardy in the centre. Not quite, but after a very slow start, England are looking busy and threatening in attack.
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31 min: Immobile goes dribbling in from the right and very nearly curls a low shot into the bottom left. There’s a deflection, and so that’s a corner. The ball’s worked back to Parolo, who very nearly Pirlos a pearler into the top left from distance. It’s inches over the bar. Had it been on target, I’m not sure Butland was getting to it.
29 min: For a second, it looked as though the referee was going to spend an age over the quick free kick on the VAR. But he’s quickly pointing to the centre spot. That was such smart thinking by Lingard. A fine finish by Vardy, too, but that goal was all down to the midfielder.
GOAL! England 1-0 Italy (Vardy 27)
This is wonderful quick thinking. Lingard robs Pellegrini in the midfield and slips a pass forward for Sterling, who is upended by the same clumsy Italian. Free kick. Italy stop, waiting for a big fuss to be made over the setting up of the free kick. But Lingard stoops amid the fuss, puts his hand on the ball, and takes a super-fast free kick, flicking the ball to the right for Vardy, who steps into the area and smashes into the top right!
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26 min: Dier rises highest to meet the corner, and heads down towards the bottom right. But Donnarumma is behind it all the way. Never mind, though, because ...
25 min: And this is a really good period for England, as Oxlade-Chamberlain is nearly teed up for a shot 20 yards from goal, but De Sciglio hassles him out of it. Then Oxlade-Chamberlain goes on another run to earn a corner on the right.
24 min: Sterling makes good down the middle and slides a pass down the inside right for Vardy, who strides into the area and shoots low. Donnarumma hacks clear with his feet.
23 min: A free kick for England out on the right. Trippier whips it to the near post, where Dier competes but comes off second best to Donnarumma.
22 min: Trippier releases Oxlade-Chamberlain down the right. It’s a powerful run, and he makes it to the edge of the area. Then he tries to nip in between Pellegrini and Bonucci, and falls to the ground. The crowd want a penalty but nobody in an England shirt claims seriously.
20 min: Bonucci, quarterbacking from deep, sends a long pass down the inside-right channel and nearly releases Parolo. There’s too much on the pass, and that’s a goal kick, but England looked ragged again at the back.
18 min: A free kick for England out on the left, and a chance to load the box. It’s hoicked into the mixer, but Tarkowski gets hands-on with Bonucci and that’s the pressure on Italy relieved in a single shove.
16 min: Immobile misses a sitter. Candreva whips a glorious cross to the far post from a deep position on the right wing. Immobile meets it, eight yards out, free. He flashes his header over the bar. Butland should have had no chance. Immobile should already have a hat-trick. He bashes the ground in frustration, after spurning a third fine opportunity to open the scoring. I hope Giulio Ongaro is OK.
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15 min: The corner leads to nothing. Italy have quietened Wembley a little with all their possession, though.
14 min: Italy are stroking it around the back, hogging the ball. For a side down on their luck at the moment, they exude confidence on the ball. Some lovely triangulation down the right, involving Immobile, Zappacosta and Jorginho earns a corner.
12 min: On another day, this could have been 0-1, 0-2, 1-0, 2-0, 1-1 or 2-2. But here we are.
10 min: Tarkowski, deep on the left, slips a fine pass inside for Lingard. It sends England on a fast attack. Lingard shuttles the ball down the middle for Vardy, who has his leg cocked ready to shoot, just inside the area. But De Sciglio slides in brilliantly to toe-poke the ball back to Donnarumma. What a saving tackle, just as though England looked like taking the lead.
8 min: Italy knock the ball around in the midfield for a while, but go nowhere special. That’s the first period of calm play in this game so far. It’s been an interesting start.
6 min: Suggestions on the slow-mo that Stones pulled Immobile back after being stripped of the ball. Meanwhile England go up the other end and win a corner down the right. The set piece is sent long, and Tarkowski is able to win a header on the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. He’s got time to think about it - not sure what the Italian defence is doing - but can only send a looper over the bar. He should have done better. Donnarumma nearly runs into the post while tracking back after it.
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4 min: The set piece comes to nothing. Stones has already put in two goal-saving blocks, yet he still needs to have a little think about what he’s done. His positioning for the very early chance wasn’t all that.
3 min: Immobile is preposterously ponderous. Stones tries to take him on, just outside the England area. Immobile strips the ball off him, and he’s again striding clear into the box! But once again he faffs around instead of getting a quick shot away, and Stones is able to redeem the situation at the cost of a corner.
And we’re off! Italy get the ball rolling. And within 30 seconds, Immobile is sent clear down the inside-right channel! Wembley waits for the flag to go up, but Jorginho’s chip down the channel has released the striker legally into the area! Luckily for England, Immobile pauses and lets the ball clank between his feet instead of shooting. That allows Stones to come over and block. What a start that could have been for Italy.
Before kick-off, a moment in memory of three English and Italian heroes. Jimmy Armfield, Cyrille Regis and Davide Astori have all passed away since the last time England have played at Wembley. They’re remembered with some warm and generous applause. It’s a beautiful, bittersweet moment.
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The teams are out! It’s an 84,000 sell-out at Wembley, and there’s an atmosphere to match the occasion. The 1966 World Cup winners are in their famous while shirts; the 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006 world champions wear their equally storied blue. We’ll be off in a minute! But before we get going, time for a quick pipe-clearing blast of steam. “GRRRRR!!!” bellows Giulio Ongaro. “Why still have Immobile and Insigne who actually have not lived up to their form in international play? I want to see Verdi, Cutrone, Cristante. Let’s give them a chance. But I am happy Buffon is not playing. Sorry, Gigi. You need to give some experience to the other goalies.” Incidentally, VAR’s in operation tonight, so that may or may not be the last GRRRRR of the evening. But let’s all keep an open mind.
Gareth Southgate talks to Independent Television! “We’ve picked the team we have because we want to keep some stability. We made some good progress the other night. Obviously we need to look at some other players as well, but tonight is a really good test for us. James Tarkowski has done really well with us and his club, and he fits the way we want to play. We’ve also got to look at options at centre-back: we’re very happy with the players who have played there up until now, but we need to see other guys who could come in. Jack Butland knew he was playing at the end of last week: most of his caps have come away so it’s nice for him to play here. Jesse Lingard and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were excellent the other day: they can break forward and score goals. Dele Alli’s not been able to train fully, but of course he’s a very important player for us. We need a little bit more composure with the final ball, but we’ll create chances and we have the guys who can finish them. We want to finish this week on a high.”
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Burnley defender James Tarkowski does indeed make his England debut. He’ll line up on the left of Gareth Southgate’s fancy new back three, replacing Joe Gomez / Harry Maguire. Meanwhile Jack Butland takes his turn in goal; Ashley Young takes the place of Danny Rose at left wing-back; Eric Dier comes in for Jordan Henderson; and Jamie Vardy replaces Marcus Rashford up front. Dominic Fifield saw you right.
Italy make four changes to the side that lost to Argentina on Friday night. Davide Zappacosta of Chelsea takes the place of Roma’s Alessandro Florenzi at right back. PSG midfielder Marco Verratti makes way for young Lorenzo Pellegrini of Roma. Inter winger Antonio Candreva replaces Fiorentina’s Federico Chiesa. And the big one: Juve keeper Gianluigi Buffon, 40 years old with 176 caps, makes way for 19-year-old, four-cap Milan sensation Gianluigi Donnarumma.
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The teams
England: Butland, Walker, Stones, Tarkowski, Dier, Trippier, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lingard, Young, Vardy, Sterling.
Subs: Hart, Pickford, Pope, Rose, Henderson, Maguire, Mawson, Livermore, Lallana, Cook, Alli, Rashford, Welbeck.
Italy: Donnarumma, Zappacosta, Rugani, Bonucci, De Sciglio, Pellegrini, Jorginho, Parolo, Candreva, Immobile, Insigne.
Subs: Buffon, Perin, Ferrari, Darmian, Ogbonna, Bonaventura, Verratti, Belotti, Spinazzola, Verdi, Gagliardini, Cutrone, Cristante, Florenzi.
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (Germany).
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And here’s some early breaking team news from our man Dominic Fifield:
Dele Alli is expected to be among the England substitutes against Italy with Gareth Southgate set to start this evening’s friendly with the same forward-thinking midfield combination of Jesse Lingard and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
The England coach had indicated on Monday that he intended to sleep on the precise makeup of his side as he sought “a balance between building upon what we did against the Netherlands and looking at a couple of things”. To that end, Burnley’s James Tarkowski is likely to make his international debut as the left-sided of the three centre-halves with Eric Dier anchoring midfield and Ashley Young drafted in at left wing-back. Jamie Vardy, coming in for Marcus Rashford, will partner Raheem Sterling up front.
Yet Alli, who played the last 22 minutes in Amsterdam last Friday, may have to wait for his chance to impress, albeit it seems inconceivable that the 21-year-old would miss out on selection for the World Cup squad. The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder has scored only once in his last 19 internationals and had been hoping to impose himself in the absence of the injured Harry Kane in these two friendly fixtures.
Instead, Southgate will cast Lingard and Oxlade-Chamberlain in as progressive No8s, pushing on ahead of Dier, as England seek to replicate the slick approach play which saw them ease past the Dutch last week.
Preamble
England welcome the fathers of catenaccio to Wembley tonight. Italy enter a bizarro world, in which the other team have the stellar defence: England haven’t conceded a goal in 537 minutes of play, since Stanislav Lobotka scored early on for Slovakia in a World Cup qualifier last September that Gareth Southgate’s side went on to win anyway. That run’s subsequently featured draws with world champions Germany and five-time World Cup winners Brazil, plus a first victory in the Netherlands since 1969. England are in a good mental space right now.
Italy ... well, not so much. Having failed to qualify for the World Cup finals for only the second time in their history, it’s a struggle to get going right now. In their first match since failing to get past Sweden in the qualification play-offs, they went down meekly in Manchester last Friday, 2-0 against an Argentina side who didn’t need to call on Lionel Messi. They’ve also had to deal with the devastating loss of defender Davide Astori, the poor young man having passed away three weeks ago. Everything in proportion, of course, but the Azzurri could do with a little something to smile about again.
Italy’s recent record in England will give them succour. On their last visit to Wembley, in 1997, Gianfraco Zola gave them a 1-0 win in the qualifiers for France 98. Their last performance on English soil was in 2002, though: a 2-1 victory at Elland Road, a match in which tonight’s coaches Gareth Southgate and Luigi di Biagio both played.
Italy are looking to emerge from a dark period; England are running the rule over a few contenders for their World Cup squad. For wildly different reasons, both teams will be searching for a spirit-boosting result; hopefully we’ll get a show as a result. It’s a big night at Wembley as two erstwhile World Cup winners go head to head. It’s on!
Kick off: 8pm BST.
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