David Hytner was at Wembley, and his report has landed. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Southgate on Trent Alexander-Arnold: “He used the ball really well … he’s got outstanding quality … him and Phil [Foden] in the first half were the two that really looked like opening them up … Marc Guehi looked very calm … the changes brought some quality as well … in the second half we could have scored more but they don’t really lose by fives and sixes … they get a lot of men back … we obviously didn’t create as many chances as I’d have liked to.”
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Gareth Southgate speaks to Channel 4. “It was a game that we didn’t start well, and I’ve been in football a long time, if you don’t start well it’s hard to pick the game up … we got a goal out of nothing … the quality on the ball is not normally at that level … the players knew we could win the game at a canter and we didn’t extend ourselves as we normally would … they’ve played so many matches and done such a brilliant job, I’m not going to hammer them for that … we know we should be better … it was one of those days when we really didn’t get going.”
The other match in Group C has ended Italy 5-2 North Macedonia. Stephan El Shaarawy scored very late to make the scoreline look less hairy than it was for the Italians, who nearly let a three-goal lead slip, their scar tissue from 2022’s World Cup debacle showing. That means a point in Ukraine on Monday night will suffice for the reigning European champions … though defeat would cashier the Azzurri into the play-offs, and Italy don’t like those at all. Huge night on Monday coming up, then. Group winners England meanwhile travel to North Macedonia, looking for the win that would ensure their ball goes into pot one for the Euro 2024 draw, taking goal difference out of the equation.
1. England 19pts
2. Italy 13pts
3. Ukraine 13pts
4. North Macedonia 7pts
5. Malta 0pts
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To be fair to England, they’d put in the hard yards by winning home and away against Italy. But without their effervescent golden boy Jude Bellingham, they lacked drive and verve this evening. Tonight’s scoreline doesn’t flatter Malta at all; you could make an argument for it seriously flattering England, though. Still, a win’s a win’s a win. There’s not a great deal more to say.
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FULL TIME: England 2-0 Malta
England get the job done in style.
90 min +5: England are seeing this out with some dull possession football, which kind of says it all. But it is 11 wins in 14.
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90 min +3: Maguire can’t head it goalwards and Malta clear. Meanwhile, Giacomo Raspadori has settled Italian nerves with a fourth against North Macedonia. It’s 4-2 in Rome.
90 min +2: Palmer dribbles in from the left flank, knocking the ball past Attard and nearly working space to shoot from a tight angle. He has to make do with a corner, which Foden will take.
90 min: There will be six extra minutes. A few groans from the home fans, who are sick of making paper aeroplanes and now just want to go home.
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89 min: Foden bustles down the left and is brought to a juddering halt by two questionable challenges. He takes the free kick himself, but fails to beat the first man. Malta clear. A third goal would be unfair on them. They’ve delivered beyond all expectation tonight.
88 min: Alexander-Arnold has a rake from distance. The ball swerves around all over the place, and Bonello does pretty well to parry clear, albeit in a slightly unconventional style.
87 min: Kane slips a pass down the right for Walker. He pulls back for Rice, who sticks out a leg but can only send the ball rolling apologetically wide right of the target.
85 min: Malta make their final change, sending on Cain Attard for Joseph Mbong.
83 min: Joseph Mbong slips a clever ball down the right channel for Yankam, who only just clears the bar with his first-time shot from the edge of the box. Meanwhile in the other match in this group, Italy are making a Big Night-sized meal of it against North Macedonia, who have pulled the score back to 3-2 thanks to a couple of Jani Atanasov goals.
81 min: “I guess I’m a better motivator than expected,” writes Joe Pearson.
80 min: Malta make a double change, switching out Reid and Jean Borg for Zach Muscat and Kyrian Nwoko.
NO GOAL! England 2-0 Malta
Park that second London bus! There had been just 93 seconds between the goals … but Rice’s effort has been ruled out. Kane had got himself in the road between keeper and shooter, and the scoreboard clicks back to 2-0.
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GOAL! England 3-0 Malta (Rice 76)
In London-bus news, another goal comes along almost immediately. Rice strides down the inside-left channel. He sends Steve Borg off for a copy of the Standard with a drop of the shoulder, glides infield, opens his body, and whips into the bottom right. Unstoppable!
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GOAL! England 2-0 Malta (Kane 75)
Walker slips a pass down the inside-right for Foden, who lays it off to Saka. A low cross. Kane flips home from six yards, he can’t miss. Better from England, but Kane has the good grace not to celebrate too wildly.
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74 min: England continue to stroll around. “Southgate should have picked a squad of Championship players,” writes Joe Pearson. “They’d bring intensity and would probably be up 4-0. Dreadful.”
72 min: England stroke it around to no effect whatsoever. This is all a bit grim.
70 min: … and now some more high amusement as the assistant referee’s flag falls off its stick, and the fourth official races on at great speed to help him fix it. Wembley making its own fun in lieu of the home team contributing anything.
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69 min: Bored fans are flinging paper aeroplanes onto the pitch. One particularly fine vessel sails into the centre, causing great cheer. It’s been that sort of evening.
67 min: Foden nudges the free kick inches to the right for Alexander-Arnold, who blazes a wild shot high and wide right. Bonello still hasn’t been required to get his shirt dirty.
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66 min: Foden feeds Palmer down the inside-left channel, and the latter’s fast feet earns a free kick just to the left of the D. Alexander-Arnold, Trippier and Foden all fancy this. They have a pow-wow as they prepare to work Bonello at long last.
64 min: Saka makes a nuisance of himself down the right. Malta half clear. The ball drops to Alexander-Arnold, who sends a shot straight at Bonello from 25 yards. Easy for the keeper, but it’s England’s first shot on target this evening, so baby steps.
63 min: Malta ping it around the back with confidence. England press to little effect.
61 min: England make two more changes of their own. Rashford can’t continue, while Henderson departs to ironic cheers. On come Declan Rice and, making his England debut, Cole Palmer.
59 min: As Rashford recovers, Malta make a double change, replacing Guillaumier and Paul Mbong with Bjorn Kristensen and Jodi Jones of Notts County.
58 min: Rashford busies himself down the inside-right channel but can’t get a shot away from a tight angle. He then accidentally runs into Alexander-Arnold and winds himself. On comes the physio.
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57 min: Alexander-Arnold slips a cute pass down the inside-right channel for Saka, who for a second looks good for a shot. But he takes a heavy touch and has to settle for a corner, from which nothing comes. That was better from England, though, a lively combination nearly opening Malta up.
55 min: Channel 4 co-commentator Dion Dublin thinks that was a penalty as well, but is now just pandering to the more credulous members of the audience.
53 min: Rashford bustles into the box down the left then nutmegs Steve Borg, but the Malta captain turns and holds a firm line, refusing to allow the England striker to nip around him. Rashford falls in his attempt to clamber over the defender, and though there’s a half-hearted shout for a penalty, nobody’s really convinced, least of all the referee.
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52 min: Trippier anticipates Guillaumier’s crossfield pass and tears off with the ball down the left. He tries to release Rashford into the box but neither pass nor run is up to scratch. Goal kick, and a few sighs of discontent.
50 min: Rashford picks up the pace down the inside-left channel and wins England a corner. Foden takes. Maguire wins a header, albeit not in a particularly clean style, and the looping ball falls gently into the arms of Bonello.
49 min: Foden has moved into the centre of midfield after the withdrawal of Gallagher and the arrival of Saka. “I’ve just seen a replay of that challenge on Kane, and he did the professional’s thing of knocking the ball to the side and then keeping his left foot in to be taken out by the goalkeeper,” writes Andy ‘Not that one’ Flintoff. “He certainly knew what he was doing, and was trying to win a penalty, although with 61 goals (and umpteen for Bayern Munich this season), I’m not sure why he decided to do that rather than shoot.”
47 min: Maguire’s been fairly free and easy with possession this evening. Once again he gives the ball away cheaply with a loose pass out from the back. Malta can’t take advantage of the error. Meanwhile here’s Oli Pearce: “First England game for my son Luca and me, and as dual nationals we’re a bit conflicted. Malta have been surprisingly good, England shockingly mediocre. Secretly rooting for our plucky underdogs but frankly a shot on target by either team would do right now.”
England get the second half underway. Gallagher and Tomori have made way for Walker and Saka. Incidentally, in the other Group C game, Italy are 3-0 up at half-time against North Macedonia. Matteo Darmian opened the scoring after 17 minutes, then Federico Chiesa notched a quickfire double just before the break. Jorginho missed a penalty.
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Half-time entertainment. With apologies to the Malta fans among us tonight.
HALF TIME: England 1-0 Malta
Malta have been excellent; England, not so much. Had Teddy Teuma scored on 28 seconds, as he so nearly did, the mood in Wembley could be very different.
45 min: There will be one added minute. Old-school.
44 min: Not for the first time this evening, Gallagher misplaces a simple pass. He’s been excellent for Chelsea recently; he’s not been on it so far tonight.
42 min: Kane’s presence wins England a corner out on the left. Foden hoicks it into the mixer. Kane clatters into Pepe and the whistle goes for a free kick. Kane’s getting a little frustrated right now. At the moment: Malta > Darmstadt. Malta > Borussia Dortmund.
41 min: Gallagher and Henderson conspire to confuse each other in the centre circle. Malta snaffle possession and stream forward. Teuma crosses from the left and England are fortunate that Maguire is on point to head clear with Paul Mbong and Reid hovering around.
39 min: Maguire clears Teuma’s corner, and England break. Gallagher is hacked down by Guillaumier, who becomes the second Malta player to go into the referee’s book. From the resulting free kick, Foden probes down the right and cuts back for Alexander-Arnold, who leans back and sends the ball miles over the bar.
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37 min: Rashford wins a corner down the left. Foden delivers the set piece straight down Bonello’s throat. Malta go up the other end, and Camenzuli wins a corner off Tomori.
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36 min: For what it’s worth, Channel 4 co-commentator Dion Dublin is utterly convinced England should have had a penalty. In other news, England still haven’t had shot on target yet.
34 min: Alexander-Arnold tries to release Kane down the inside right with a long quarterback sling. Too long. Bonello claims. “England are superior to the opposition and they know it,” begins Ben Bronx. “They’ll probably win the game comfortably but it’s disappointing to see the lack of energy in this team. They are aware minimal effort should result in a win and it looks like they are happy to play at a snails pace. Apart from the freak own goal Malta have had the best chances of the game so far.”
32 min: That decision was a proper cricket-style umpire’s call. Had it been called the other way, nobody could/should have complained either. Super slow-mo may make a fool of all of us, of course. Anyway, here we are now, and Kane is buzzing around fuelled by righteous indignation. If he wasn’t already desirous of a goal, he clearly is now.
30 min: VAR didn’t see that decision as a clear and obvious error. You can see their point. There was certainly contact … but did Kane instigate it himself and go down looking for the spot kick? Opinions will vary, and both will be available on your super soaraway internet.
28 min: Kane chases a loose ball, half cleared by Bonello, down the inside-right channel. Bonello spreads himself at Kane’s feet. Kane goes over; he wants a penalty. But he’s getting booked for diving instead! Kane is incensed. But the officials aren’t changing their mind!
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27 min: Teuma whips the free kick towards the near post. Kane is forced to head behind. The resulting corner is only half cleared by England, and Teuma crosses again from the right. This time Pickford claims.
26 min: Another challenge involving Tomori, but this time he’s late with his studs on his opponent’s foot. Yankham the victim. Tomori is booked, and this is a free kick just to the right of the England box.
25 min: There’s an absurd amount of wrestling in the Malta box. The referee has a word. Everyone keeps pawing at each other anyway. Eventually Trippier sends the ball in. Maguire does his level best to get on the end of it, but can’t make a proper connection.
24 min: Foden slips Trippier into space down the right. Trippier’s cross doesn’t get past the first man, but it’s a corner anyway. Trippier to take it himself.
23 min: Paul Mbong catches Tomori late with his studs. Accidental, but worthy of a booking nonetheless. Into the notebook he goes.
22 min: Joseph Mbong dribbles dangerously down the right but can’t find anyone in red in the middle with his low cross.
20 min: Teuma attempts to release Joseph Mbong down the right with a long diagonal rake. The ball flies out of play. Full marks for ambition, though; it’s great to see Malta taking England on.
18 min: Foden one-twos with Rashford down the left. He crosses in the hope of finding Kane in the middle, but Bonello intercepts and gathers, albeit at the second swipe.
17 min: Alexander-Arnold and Kane nearly combine to open Malta up down the right channel. Not quite, but Alexander-Arnold is seeing plenty of the ball in forward positions.
16 min: England are dominating possession, as you’d expect, but whenever Malta get the ball, they stroke it around with confidence.
14 min: A smattering of boos for Henderson. The England fans not letting this one lie.
12 min: Incidentally, hats off to Foden for his work in that goal, because he spun off the unfortunate Pepe wonderfully when taking receipt of the ball down the channel from Guehi. Breaking news: Manchester City treble-winner is good.
10 min: Malta continue to go for it, despite that shocking break. Maguire’s poor pass is intercepted by Guillaumier in the centre circle. He pings it forward first time to Paul Mbong, who creams a shot towards the top left from distance. Just over the bar! Pickford probably had that one covered, though even then it was close. This is great stuff from the Maltese, despite the scoreline.
GOAL! England 1-0 Malta (Pepe og 8)
A ball threaded down the inside-right channel for Foden to chase. Foden pulls the ball back from the byline. It hits Pepe, rushing back and not even looking, and the ball sails towards goal. Bonelio, wrong-footed, tries to stop it with a brave hand but the ball squirms into the top right. A huge stroke of luck for England. Poor Malta, who had started so brightly.
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7 min: Reid, perhaps frustrated at failing to take advantage of that chance to break forward, takes a hack at Alexander-Arnold and is fortunate not to be booked.
6 min: England try to settle themselves down with some sterile possession in the middle third … but then Trippier ships possession to Reid and is fortunate Henderson is on hand to put a stop to the Maltese striker’s gallop. “I didn’t need your kind link to the Lt. Commander,” writes Damian Clarke. “Before the age of five, each of my children could happily shout along to his wonderful fireworks recording, I’d played it that many times.” Shouldn’t you have told them to shut up talking?
4 min: Paul Mbong drives down the right and forces Guehi to clank the ball out for a throw. Nothing comes of that, but had Guehi not intervened, Mbong was tearing off towards the box. Malta have started brilliantly, and Wembley is rattled out of its collective complacency. It’s gone ever-so-slightly quiet!
2 min: That was exceptionally close. Teuma covers his mouth in shock, a chance to write his name alongside Davide Gualtieri’s … well, 21 seconds after it … in England folklore!
28 seconds: Guillaumier robs Gallagher, 30 yards from the England goal. He feeds Teuma, who whistles a low drive inches wide of the left-hand post. Not entirely sure Pickford had that covered. Malta so close to doing a San Marino on England!
A warm round of applause – and a huge cheer of appreciation - in memory of Sir Bobby. Then Malta get the ball rolling.
The teams are out! England in white, Malta in red. We’ll be off once the national anthems have been parped, pennants exchanged, and hands shaken. “I reckon that having two Borgs will inspire the Maltese to not lose by a tennis bagel set. That, or the collective hive mind of the Borgs will help Malta realise that Resistance is Futile at Wembley.” Peter Oh, ladies and gentlemen. He’s here all week. Try the rabbit stew.
The Wembley lights are dimmed as footage of Bobby Charlton is shown on the big screen. Fans hold up flashlights as eternal flames. An emotional moment.
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Gareth Southgate speaks to Channel 4. “We have to win … we always want to play well … we have over 80,000 people here who are buying into what we’re doing … we’ve got some exciting players … we’ve got to work hard as a team and make sure the mentality and attitude is right … if that is, the quality will come through … nights like this are definitely opportunities for people to see what they can do … this is a different sort of test, a team lower in the rankings who pose a different tactical issue … you have to break down a back five and low block … we want to see plenty of movement … we have players who can unlock the door in Foden and Trent and Harry Kane … we have players who can press well … it would be great to see Conor Gallagher get on the scoresheet as well … [Alexander-Arnold]’s passing range and vision is exceptional so this is another chance for him to get some minutes in that role and get a feel of that position … there’s always a plan for changes and we’ve got [sending on debutants] in mind but that depends on the direction of the game.”
There are three players on the bench hoping to make their debuts this evening: Cole Palmer of Chelsea, Manchester City’s Rico Lewis and Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa. At the other end of the spectrum, Harry Kane will be making his 88th appearance in an England shirt … and will be looking to add to his record total of 61 goals.
Tonight’s match programme. There could only be one cover star.
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Gareth Southgate makes five changes from the XI that started the 3-1 win over Italy last month. Trent Alexander-Arnold is named in midfield alongside Conor Gallagher and Jordan Henderson, while Marc Guéhi and Fikayo Tomori come into the defence. Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips and Kyle Walker drop to the bench, while Jude Bellingham and John Stones miss out through injury.
The teams
England: Pickford, Trippier, Maguire, Guehi, Tomori, Alexander-Arnold, Gallagher, Henderson, Foden, Kane, Rashford.
Subs: Johnstone, Lewis, Saka, Ramsdale, Phillips, Rice, Grealish, Walker, Konsa, Palmer, Watkins, Bowen.
Malta: Bonello, Steve Borg, Pepe, Jean Borg, Joseph Mbong, Yankam, Guillaumier, Teuma, Camenzuli, Paul Mbong, Reid.
Subs: Matthew Grech, Kristensen, Nwoko, Overend, Jones, Al-Tumi, Zach Muscat, Shaw, Attard, Stephen Pisani, Nicky Muscat, Apap.
Referee: Luis Godinho (Portugal).
Tonight's #ThreeLions! 🏴 pic.twitter.com/q2N5pm3KbF
— England (@England) November 17, 2023
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Preamble
Let’s not oversell this. Having already beaten the Maltese 4-0 at their gaff in Ta’Qali earlier this year, and with a historical record against them of played six, won six, scored 18, conceded one, England will win tonight. If they don’t, your humble MBM scribe will eat their hat, in the time-honoured style of well-lubricated 1930s BBC announcer Lieutenant-Commander Thomas Woodrooffe. This as-good-as-dead rubber kicks off at 7.45pm GMT. It’s on, just about.
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