Southgate reaction.
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David Hytner was at Wembley ... and his verdict is in! Click below for his report. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Gareth Southgate’s verdict. “We were very good in the first half and in control of the game. Obviously to concede a goal like we did can hit the team, but they stuck at it, recovered their composure, and it was an important set-play winner. John Stones has managed to compose himself for the rest of the game and had a part in the winning goal. You can fold in those moments and he didn’t. He’s been having a really good season. Everybody’s got a lot to play for for the Euros. We did a lot of good things this week but there is still a step to go. Fatigue was starting to tell but the players stuck at it and they deserved the win.”
Harry Maguire speaks to ITV. “Of course it’s a big win. We’re playing to play at a World Cup. We started the game well but in the second half didn’t start well at all. The first 15-20 minutes they were the better team and put us under pressure. It’s nice to get the victory, nine points after a tough camp, three games in a short space of time, and we’ve got a lot of players injured as well. John Stones has been brilliant this year. We’re defenders and when we make mistakes we are scrutinised. He made up for it with a great header at the far post. Defenders make mistakes. We’re not perfect! John has made a little blip tonight but he’ll come back strong.”
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FULL TIME: England 2-1 Poland
The Poles made England fight for it during the second half, but it’s a third win out of three for Gareth Southgate’s side, who can now happily park the World Cup and start thinking about the Euros.
90 min +4: Poland throw long from the right. A flick on. Augustyniak shins it over from eight yards. Only a half-chance, but still.
90 min +3: Grosicki momentarily threatens to break clear down the left, but is brusquely dealt with by the shoulder of Walker.
90 min +2: Lingard and Calvert-Lewin keep the ball in the corner, deep in Polish territory. Textbook clock management.
90 min: There will be four minutes of injury time.
89 min: Another couple of England changes. Kane and Sterling are replaced by Calvert-Lewin and Lingard.
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88 min: Bereszynski barges his way down the right, reaching the box and whipping low into the centre. The ball just evades Grosicki on the penalty spot. So close to another equaliser!
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87 min: Poland make two Hail Mary changes: Grosicki and Reca come on for Zielinski and Rybus.
86 min: ... and on comes a sub at last. Foden is replaced by James as England look to shore it up.
GOAL! England 2-1 Poland (Maguire 85)
Redemption for John Stones! Phillips hits the corner long. Stones, battling at the far post, heads back towards Maguire, who lashes an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net from 12 yards!
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84 min: So having said that, England put a move together for the first time in a while, Mount ending it with a shot from the edge of the box. It’s deflected out for a corner, from which ...
83 min: England are currently struggling to piece anything together. With time running out, you’d expect Gareth Southgate to roll the dice ... but the starting XI remain on the pitch.
81 min: It’s scrappy again. A series of throws and blocks, and the clock ticks on.
79 min: Sterling slips Mount into space down the left. Mount’s cross slams into Glik, who deflects out for a corner. Phillips to take. He hooks into the six-yard box. Szczesny claims, but then drops under pressure from Maguire. The keeper’s happy to hear the whistle.
77 min: Phillips sends a long free kick into the Polish mixer. Maguire gets his head on it, but only succeeds in cushioning the ball into the grateful arms of Szczesny.
76 min: Poland make their third change, Augustyniak coming on for Piatek.
74 min: Foden tries to whip the free kick towards the top right, but slams it straight into the wall.
73 min: Foden dribbles with great purpose down the middle of the park and draws a clumsy foul from Glik. A free kick just to the right of the D. While we wait to see how this goes, here’s Niall Mullen: “I wonder if ITV pundit Roy Keane is thinking about the time he gave the ball away for John Salako to equalise and was met in the dressing room with a thump in the face from Brian Clough? I doubt Stones is in any danger from his manager tonight though.”
71 min: Poland have visibly grown in confidence. Mount tries to brush Krychowiak off the ball and is unceremoniously sent bouncing away. That sort of thing wasn’t happening in the first half. “Just as Arsenal and England supporters had to accept after far too long that Theo Walcott’s potential was never going to solidify into a really consistent centre-forward, isn’t it time we all accept that John Stones is never going to be a reliable centre-half?” asks David Wall. “He’s no longer a young player who can be excused mistakes because he’s still learning his position. That’s not to say England shouldn’t select him. We just have to accept that he’s always going to make those kinds of errors, and with noticeably higher frequency than other centre-halves.”
69 min: Foden has a speculative dig from distance, hoping to find the bottom left. Szczesny claims without fuss.
68 min: Kane goes chasing after the ball when Szczesny takes a heavy touch. The keeper clears just in time, and Kane cleans him out. Kane for some reason escapes censure. That was late and borderline reckless.
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66 min: Zielinski forces his way past Stones down the left and loops long. The ball’s headed back in from the right, towards Milik, who is in space eight yards out. It’s a great chance, but he can’t steer his header on target. England - and Stones - breathe again.
64 min: ... there’s a bit of bedlam on the edge of the area. Moder falls over. Maguire blooters the ball into the prone Pole’s body. Play stops while Moder repopulates his lungs with wind.
63 min: Sterling turns on the jets down the left and enters the box. He’s about to shoot from a tight angle when Szczesny comes towards him and smothers at his feet. The ball deflects out for a corner. From which ...
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62 min: A free kick out on the England right. Phillips whips it in. Piatek clears easily. England seem collectively dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events.
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60 min: That’s the old hapless John Stones, just when we thought we’d seen the back of that particular model. What a time for him to re-emerge. England have been made to pay for failing to convert all that possession into more than a single goal. Let’s see how they react.
GOAL! England 1-1 Poland (Moder 58)
... and now they’re made to pay for it. Stones faffs around with the ball at his feet, to the left of the D. Moder toe-pokes the ball away from him towards Milik, who returns it down the inside-left channel. Moder is free, and lashes across Pope and into the top right. What a mistake by Stones, who holds his hand up in apology.
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57 min: England continue to hog the ball, to little effect.
55 min: Poland make their second change of the evening, replacing Helik with Jozwiak.
53 min: A long Polish pass down the middle. Piatek threatens to get on the end of it. Stones tries to shepherd the ball back to Pope, who hesitates when clearing and nearly falls over his own feet. Just as the situation threatens to turn into a full-blown fiasco, Piatek needlessly clatters the keeper, gifting Pope a get-out-of-jail-free card. You’ve heard this plenty of times before, but Pope really needs to work on the old footwork.
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51 min: Phillips takes a whack on the heel from Zielinski, though it was purely accidental. He rolls around in some pain, but the sting clearly subsides quickly because he’s up and about again soon enough.
49 min: Glik barges into Mount down the right. Foden clumps an awful free kick over everyone in the box, and has the good grace to look sheepish about it.
47 min: Foden crosses from the right. Sterling can’t get up at the far post to head home.
46 min: Milik’s first act is to clip the heel of Kane and pick up a booking. That took 44 seconds. It would have been 41 seconds had the referee not dropped something before showing the card.
Poland get the second half underway. They’ve made one change, replacing Swiderski with Milik.
Half-time reading.
HALF TIME: England 1-0 Poland
There’s just enough time for next to nothing to happen at the corner, and the whistle goes for the break. England have dominated both possession and territory. Poland have a wee bit of thinking to do.
45 min: Sterling drifts in from the left yet again, and looks for the top right. His curler is deflected out for a corner on the right.
44 min: Sterling waggles his hips and races past Bereszynski down the left with great ease. He reaches the byline and cuts back. A quick game of pinball in the Polish six-yard box ends fortunately for the visitors, who clear their lines.
42 min: Kane and Glik have taken whacks upside the head, the result of a clumsy aerial set-to. We pause as both players rub their throbbing noggins.
41 min: Poland, it is fair to say, are missing the constant, hovering threat of Lewandowski. They’ve got nothing going on up front right now.
39 min: See 37 min. It’s suddenly gone a little flat, tell the truth.
37 min: England get the ball back and probe down both flanks. Poland hold firm.
35 min: A little bit of possession for Poland, but it all frays the minute they approach the final third. England have yet to be asked a serious question. “I’ve always maintained that England haven’t won anything in over half a century because the players have never been good enough,” begins Gary Naylor. “But this is the first time a majority of the XI do not play like older versions of the big boys who could dominate Under-12s games played on a full size muddy pitch. These players look like they grew up on 3G grass, competing in short-sided matches in which performance mattered more than the result. I still think France are four years ahead of us, but this is progress.”
33 min: England are playing some nice football. A cross in from the right causes momentary mayhem, before Szczesny comes through a crowded box to punch clear.
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31 min: Kane cuts in from the left and smashes low towards the left-hand corner. Szczesny does extremely well to stick out a strong hand to deny him.
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30 min: Sterling is a sensational player, like that’s breaking news. He sashays into the Polish box from the left, dropping a shoulder in an attempt to make room for a curler into the top right. Room never quite comes, though he slithers away from a pocket of five (!) defenders, only for Bednarek to slide in and block. That would have been a hell of a goal. Ricky Villaesque.
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28 min: Pope slaps a dismal clearance straight at Rice, who is very fortunate not to deflect the ball into the path of Piatek. England hack clear.
27 min: Yep. Poland, having pushed up, are caught on the counter, Sterling sent skittering clear down the left. He enters the area and is one on one with Szczesny, albeit facing a tight angle. He should shoot, but tries to tee up Foden in the middle instead, and can’t find the killer pass.
26 min: Poland are coming out a bit more since falling behind. To little effect so far, but this could make for an enjoyable end-to-end romp. You can blame me if it all goes wrong.
24 min: A long ball down the Polish left drops to Swiderski, on the corner of the England box. He opts to volley it. A first-time cross would have been ambitious enough, but that could have been an attempt at a Van Bastenesque shot. It’s no use, but that’s not really the point. You have to hope it was the latter. If so, full marks for dreaming the dream.
22 min: Rybus’s delivery is little short of appalling, a lame slap of a cross that doesn’t beat the first man. Kane batters clear.
21 min: Poland try to respond immediately, Swiderski battling down the right and drawing a clumsy foul from Maguire. This is a free kick just outside the box, and a chance for Poland to load the box.
GOAL! England 1-0 Poland (Kane 19 pen)
Kane skelps it straight down the middle, having given Szczesny the eyes and sent him a-diving. What a gift for England.
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Penalty for England!
18 min: Sterling dribbles powerfully down the left. He’s not really going anywhere, running out of room, but Helik slides in recklessly and clips his man. The ref points to the spot.
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17 min: The corner’s hit long. Foden knocks it back into the mixer from the right. Too high for Stones, and Poland eventually clear.
16 min: Mount and Chilwell combine down the left again, the full-back hooking from the byline and forcing a corner. Phillips to take.
15 min: England continue to buff up their possession stats.
13 min: Sterling glides in from the left and curls towards Foden on the penalty spot. Foden’s preparing to flick goalwards when Bednarek steps across to head clear.
12 min: There’s a nice, fresh, open feel to this match. England are enjoying the (three) lion’s share at the moment, but Poland appear happy with the set-up, prepared as they are to spring a counter whenever the opportunity arises.
10 min: Foden goes to ground while running back upfield, out of the Polish box. Did Krychowiak get a bit of him, or did Foden lose the run of his legs and tackle himself? A bit of both, but although there’s a muted English claim for a penalty, the referee’s not interested at all. Foden doesn’t make too much of it himself.
9 min: Bednarek passes long down the right. Piatek threatens to get on the end of it, but Pope races miles out of his box to blooter clear.
8 min: ... but suddenly England put the first serious move of the match together. Mount shimmies to the left of the Poland D before slipping a ball down the channel for Chilwell. The Chelsea full-back wedges into the centre, where Foden gets under a header and sends the ball miles over the bar.
7 min: It’s all a bit scrappy now as both teams get their press on.
5 min: Poland finally get their foot on the ball. Piatek has a little probe down the centre, but the move is quickly snuffed out by Stones.
3 min: Poland don’t get their first touch of the match until Mount crosses from the left and Rybus heads clear. If you can make a statement in the first three minutes of a football match without doing very much, England have done that.
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2 min: England knock it around in confident fashion, making sure all of their defenders get an early touch. Ping, stroke, pass.
England get the ball rolling ... but only after telling racists to do one. They take the knee, while Poland show their solidarity by pointing at the Uefa RESPECT logo. There’s no room for racism. Kick it out.
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The teams are out! England wear white, Poland red. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes, after the anthems. We know all about the English one, but what about Poland’s?
Poland has not yet perished
So long as we still live!
What the alien force has taken from us
We shall retrieve with a sabre!
Blimey. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of this lot. England, providing they haven’t already skedaddled after hearing such bellicosity, will need to steel themselves this evening. We’ll be off in a minute!
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Gareth Southgate speaks to the channel formerly known as Associated-Rediffusion. “I was very close to picking the same team. Ben is fresh so we refreshed that position. For all of the players there’s a lot of optimism. We’ve done very well in the first two games, but this is a much sterner test. We’re going to have to work hard to break them down. Our full backs will get plenty of the ball and we must move their back five around. Tonight’s all about the three points towards World Cup qualification. The Euros will take care of itself.”
England will be hoping the evening can only get better: their counterparts at Under-21 level have just been knocked out of the 2021 Uefa European Under-21 Championship. It looked as though they were heading through to the quarter-finals when Curtis Jones put them 2-0 up against Croatia with a fine strike from the edge of the box. But in the first minute of injury time, Domagoj Bradaric scored an absolute screamer, a heatseeker into the top right from 25 yards, and though England still won the game 2-1, it wasn’t enough. Croatia went through instead on the head-to-head goals rule. There was a massive donnybrook after the final whistle, with Jones and Rhian Brewster in particular looking beyond livid and more than in the mood to throw hands.
If It Ain’t Broke dept. Gareth Southgate makes just one change to the XI named for the stroll in Albania. Ben Chilwell comes in for Luke Shaw.
The teams
England: Pope, Walker, Maguire, Stones, Chilwell, Rice, Phillips, Foden, Mount, Sterling, Kane.
Subs: Henderson, Trippier, Lingard, Coady, James, Dier, Calvert-Lewin, Mings, Shaw, Watkins, Johnstone, Bellingham.
Poland: Szczesny, Bednarek, Glik, Helik, Bereszynski, Krychowiak, Moder, Rybus, Swiderski, Piatek, Zielinski.
Subs: Szymanski, Dawidowicz, Placheta, Kowalczyk, Fabianski, Kozlowski, Jozwiak, Milik, Augustyniak, Grosicki, Reca, Niemczycki.
Referee: Björn Kuipers (Netherlands).
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Preamble
It feels like England are forever playing Poland, but in truth it’s been a while. The two countries last met in 2013, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard scoring the goals in a garden-variety 2-0 Wembley win. You’d imagine Gareth Southgate would settle for something similar tonight. Get the job done and move on.
That doesn’t really sell this game, but it is what it is. Poland have only beaten England once in the Entire History of All Football, and have lost their last seven matches in Blighty, a record that doesn’t suggest they’ll cause a shock here this evening. Especially as the Robert Lewandowski Team are missing Robert Lewandowski.
Still, you never know. Poland have started their Group I campaign well enough, a 3-0 win over Andorra following an opening-round 3-3 draw in Hungary. But that man Lewandowski has scored 50 percent of their goals so far, and his are mighty big boots to fill. A win for England tonight will cement their position at the top of the table, and allow everyone to concentrate on Euro 2020 in the knowledge that all’s well on the World Cup front. Kick off is at 7.45pm BST. It’s on!
