England’s young stars shined on Tuesday night as they beat Scotland 3-1 in a competitive friendly at a raucous Hampden Park.
A quick-fire double from Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham put the Three Lions in control, and though a Harry Maguire own goal made things interesting, Harry Kane put the game to bed late on.
The home nations were playing a friendly to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first ever international game of football.
The atmosphere was hardly ‘friendly’ however, with the old rivals making an energetic start though clear cut chances were hard to come by.
It wasn’t until the 32nd minute when we had the first shot on target and goal, when Foden turned home Kyle Walker’s powerful cross from close range following some nice build-up play.
The Manchester City attacking midfielder turned on the style as he looked to stake his claim in Gareth Southgate’s starting XI, and just minutes later his delightful cross was mis-controlled by Andy Robertson.
The Scotland skipper gifted the ball to Bellingham who fired home to give England a deserved lead before the break.
From there, the visitors were in near-complete control, until the 67th minute when Robertson’s cross was turned into Aaron Ramsdale’s net by the unfortunate Maguire who had come on at half-time.
John McGinn wasted a brilliant chance to equalise just minutes later when he shouldered the ball over from just a few yards out.
England too spawned several chances to seal the victory, with Eberechi Eze firing straight at Angus Gunn after a brilliant touch put him one-on-one with the keeper, while Bellingham also had an effort saved.
Eventually, it was captain Kane who settled the match, slotting in his country’s final goal of the night with the assist coming from Real Madrid star Bellingham.
In a doubly disappointing night for the Tartan Army, they missed a chance to qualify for Euro 2024 after Norway’s game against Georgia didn’t end in a draw, with Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard scoring in Oslo to keep their country’s qualification hopes alive.
Reaching next summer’s finals in Germany seems inevitable for both Scotland and England though, with the two home nations top of their qualifying groupsand unbeaten after five games.
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