Saka lights up England’s confident friendly win over Wales | The Express Tribune

LONDON:

Bukayo Saka’s stunning strike and a first international goal for Morgan Rogers inspired England in a 3-0 win over Wales, but Thomas Tuchel slammed “silent” fans at Thursday’s friendly.

Tuchel’s side delivered their second successive dominant display to maintain the feelgood factor after their 5-0 rout of Serbia in a World Cup qualifier last month.

Rogers put England ahead early in the first half at Wembley and the midfielder’s Aston Villa team-mate Ollie Watkins increased their advantage soon afterwards.

With England carving open the hapless Welsh defence at will, Arsenal winger Saka scored the goal of the night with a superb long-range rocket.

It was exactly the kind of swaggering performance that former Bayern Munich and Chelsea boss Tuchel had promised when he replaced Gareth Southgate.

The German struggled through a spluttering start to his reign, but England are finally starting to hit their stride.

However, Tuchel felt England’s display deserved a more vociferous response from fans as he took a swipe at the subdued Wembley crowd.

“We cannot do more than being 3-0 in a derby. I would have wished for a bit more support in phases where it gets difficult,” he said.

“The stadium was silent. We didn’t get any energy back from the stands. We did everything to win.

“If you hear just Wales fans for half an hour, it’s sad because the team deserved more support today.

“In the second half it could have helped us to regain energy, but it is what it is.”

England’s place at next year’s World Cup is already all-but-confirmed after five successive wins in Group K.

They could book their spot with a victory in Latvia on Tuesday, depending on other results over the next few days.

The Three Lions need to travel to the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico with genuine belief they can win a major trophy for the first time since 1966.

When listless England were beaten by Senegal in a friendly in June, few would have thought that was likely.

While far sterner tests lie in wait at the World Cup, they appear to be heading in the right direction after a sixth win from seven games under Tuchel.

He was encouraged that England beat Wales so easily without injured captain Harry Kane, while Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish were all left out of the squad.

“We created a lot of chances. We could use Harry all the time, but we need to play without Harry and Jude, the guys are injured. I think we played an excellent first half,” Tuchel said.

Rampant England

Wales, who face a vital qualifier against Belgium on Monday, are in the hunt to reach the World Cup after losing just twice in 12 games since boss Craig Bellamy took charge.

But they were no match for England, who took the lead after just three minutes.

With the Wales defence flat-footed inside their own penalty area, Marc Guehi alertly pounced on the loose ball before it could roll out of play.

Guehi quickly guided his pass into the six-yard box and Rogers applied the finishing touch.

England had scored in 17 consecutive matches for the first time in 34 years and Watkins added to the blitz in the 11th minute.

Wales were guilty of more sloppy defending as Rogers was granted time and space to loop his cross towards Watkins, who poked home from close range for his sixth international goal.

Tuchel’s team were monopolising over 80 percent of the possession and it was no surprise when they struck again in the 20th minute.

Saka did it all on his own, cutting in from the right flank and curling a sublime finish past Wales goalkeeper Karl Darlow and into the top corner from 25 yards.

It was the first time that England had scored three goals in the first 20 minutes since 1987 against Yugoslavia.