England cruised past a lacklustre Croatian team after a 2nd half Raheem Sterling goal. England and Croatia are the two favourites to top group C. The victory gives England a huge boast and sets them in a perfect position to top the group. England had the home advantage playing at Wembley and was a huge asset as the limited English fans made their presence known.
The last time these teams met was in the Semi-final of the 2018 world cup where Croatia got the better of England. This time around the situation was different. The star midfield of Luka Modric, Matteo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic couldn't break the English defence despite their efforts till the last kick of the game. Ivan Perisic was the player that looked most likely to create an opening.
Both teams had equal possession but England created more clear cut chances. The main talking point was always gonna be Gareth Southgate's selection. The English manager didn't include Ben Chilwell and Jadon Sancho while Harry Maguire was out through injury. Jack Grealish and Jordon Henderson remained unused substitutes. The most surprising decision was playing Keiren Trippier at Left Back leaving out the inform Luke Shaw. Raheem Sterling started the game despite being out of form for the entire season with Manchester City.
England immediately started the first half on the front foot as Phill Foden hit the post in the 6th minute after being set up by Raheem Sterling. Both teams kept on knocking the ball around exchanging periods of possession. Croatia couldn't find spaces to break the English defence and had to rely on long shots and crosses from far out to try and create half chances.
The 2nd half had the same pattern with both teams having equal possession and England playing with more intent than their counterparts. England broke through in the 57th minute after Kalvin Phillips made a burst forward, got past to players to find Raheem Sterling who found the back of the net. Sterling proved his manager's decision of starting him over Grealish to be the correct one by getting the goal and constantly threatening Croatia by getting in behind their defence. Croatia spent the rest of the game circling England's box.
Man of the Match:
Kalvin Phillips-
Phillips isn't one of the players you would've predicted to start for England a couple of months ago. Jordon Henderson not being fully fit meant that Phillips partnered Declan Rice in Midfield. The Leeds player ran the show in the middle of the park. Phillips surged forward to set up Raheem Sterling's opener. Southgate preferred playing Phillips over 17year old Jude Bellingham and it proved to be a masterstroke. His performance might be enough to take him ahead of Henderson and Bellingham in the pecking order.
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