Englands first away victory in Italy for over sixty years had fans going through every emotion from the nervy, heavily pressured first ten minutes to flowing attacking play during the rest of the first half and a second half dominated by the hosts with a red card for Luke Shaw thrown into the mix. In years to come though the narrative will be the fact captain Harry Kane became Englands top goalscorer of all time, overtaking Wayne Rooney.
Here’s how I rated each Lions performance tonight:
Jordan Pickford – 7
Wasn’t over worked save wise and collected crosses with confidence but he always leaves you fearful when playing from the back.
Kyle Walker – 8
Locked down the right hand side till he was booked for time wasting as at the same time Gnonto came on and how he wanted to defend was compromised.
Luke Shaw – 7
Standard Shaw performance marred by his quick fire yellow cards, the first for time wasting was a joke like Walkers and surely came about due to the ref being influenced by the home crowd.
Harry Maguire – 6
The United man did not repay Gareth Southgates faith in selecting him, his lack of club football meant he was off the pace and was at fault for the Italian goal. He gave the ball away, missed the recovery tackle and left his defensive zone unattended.
John Stones – 9
Absolute rock at the heart of defence who even had time for a quick fall out with Roberto Mancini when Shaw was being sent off.
Declan Rice – 9
As always he ran his heart out, pressing non stop, tackling anything that moves and grabbed the first goal.
Kalvin Phillips – 4
Left Rice and Bellingham exposed constantly when England was out of possession and gave the ball away consistently in crucial areas.
Bakayo Saka – 8
Caught on the ball a great deal during the first fifteen minutes, but from that point he realised how aggressive he needed to be and was a threat till he was subbed.
Jack Grealish – 5
Missed a great chance to score in the first half and that was his highlight. Unlike Saka on the right he let the niggly Italian tackles get to him and he spent most of his time berating the ref.
Jude Bellingham – 9
If Saka is “StarBoy” then Bellingham should be known as “CosmicKid”, his runs from midfield were tremendous and usually took three Italians out of the passage of play.
Harry Kane – 10
His best game for England EVER, held the ball up strongly, took players on, won tackles and scored his record breaking goal. If you are showing a young forward how to play the lone striker role this is the blueprint performance.
Subs
Phil Foden – n/a
Cannot be rated as he was sacrificed for Trippier when Shaw was sent off, the few minutes he did play was like a mini rondo session for him.
Kieran Trippier – 7
Solid, no thrills stint at left back, he even got underneath the home sides skins before coming on when he hid the ball in the England dugout during the first half.
Reece James – 7
Calm presence for England during those rearguard last ten minutes.
Conor Gallagher – 9
As good a cameo appearance you will see, won tackles, drew fouls and used the ball wisely, totally frustrated the Naples crowd.
Sundays game versus Ukraine will not be a walkover as we all know about the talented players they possess and at full time tonight it was plain to see a few injuries had been incurred by England. Players like Ben Chilwell, Ivan Toney and Jordan Henderson could be involved after seeing no game tonight.
