In the wake of Friday’s disappointing defeat away to Italy, a loss that confirmed England’s relegation from Tier A of the UEFA Nations League, the pressure was firmly on Gareth Southgate going into Monday’s clash with Germany.
One of the players sacrificed in an attempt to find solutions to England’s faltering form was Arsenal ’s Bukayo Saka, who was dropped to the bench for the contest at Wembley after a left-wing back role in the defeat just days earlier.
The England boss turned back to the 21-year-old, though, when the Three Lions found themselves 2-0 down after Ilkay Gundogan converted a penalty and Kai Havertz hit a brilliant strike from distance with a little over 20 minutes remaining.
The latter goal prompted Southgate to introduce Saka and Mason Mount in a desperate attempt to recover something from the game. After Luke Shaw had pulled a goal back, the two substitutes combined superbly to level things up, with Mount latching onto Saka’s mazy run through the German defence to hit a sweet first-time strike past the outstretched Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Saka had a hand in the third goal too, with his pass into the feet of Jude Bellingham leading to the foul and eventual penalty that Harry Kane converted superbly. The Arsenal attacker nearly capped off his brilliant cameo with a goal of his own, however Ter Stegen managed to tip his late one-against-one effort around the post.
It’s fair to say that against Italy, Saka was one of those who put it in a rather innocuous display. However he was deployed as a left-wing back in that game, a position he can play competently but not to the same destructive level that he can when playing as a right-sided attacker.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Can England win the World Cup? Let us know in the comments section
Monday night was a reminder of this and his impact from the bench can be captured in the numbers. All eight of his passes were successful, he completed 100 per cent of his attempted dribbles, made two progressive runs and won 2/3 of attacking duels.
His display, along with the impact of fellow substitute Mount, attracted praise from former England striker Jermaine Defoe. He told Channel 4 in his post-match analysis: "When you get to this stage (2-0 down) players get an opportunity and credit to the subs (Mount and Saka) who came on and made a difference. Sometimes that doesn’t happen.”
Although still just 21, Saka already has 20 England caps to his name and is quickly becoming a key member of Southgate’s side. While he may have been forced to settle for a place on the bench initially for Monday’s clash, the level of his second-half performance, plus the chemistry he displayed with Reece James has fired him right back in to contention to be part of Southgate’s starting XI for the World Cup in November.
England’s campaign begins against Iran at Khalifa International Stadium in Al Rayyan on 21 November and Southgate is set to name his final World Cup squad before the deadline on 19 October.
