Kane's Late Winner Secures England's place at Russia 2018
Gareth Southgate's England secured their place in next summer's World Cup in Russia following an injury time goal from Spurs striker Harry Kane.
Sitting petty at the top of group F in the qualifying stages, Gareth Southgate and England were just one victory away from securing their place in next summer's World Cup.
Southgate chose to go with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Kane being the focal point, Slovenia on the other hand went with the orthodox 4-4-2.
The first half was a fairly tight contest with limited chances for both teams, Ten minutes into the match, Slovenia had their first chance to score via a 22 yard free kick which was well saved by England's no,1 Joe Hart.
14 minutes later, Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson was brought down just outside the penalty area for a free kick for England. Kyle Walker stepped up to take it but failed to hit the target. This was the last chance of a tightly contested first half.
Nine minutes into the second half, Slovenia made their first substitution when Andraz Sporar was replaced by Valter Birsa.
The Three Lions had a great opportunity to score in the 62nd minute where Marcus Rashford attempted to scoop the ball over Slovenian keeper Jan Oblack, but the Manchester united centre forward could only watch it sail over the bar.
These missed opportunities from England added more frustration for Southgate who decided to replace Liverpool winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin for Manchester United's Jesse Lingard.
In the 66th minute, Kane tried his luck from outside the penalty box which made the ball sail just wide of the post.
Slovenia made their second substitution when striker Roman Bezjak was replaced by Jan Repas.71st minute, this was followed by another change 7 minutes later when off went Rajko Rotman to be replaced by Tim Matavz.
in the 83rd minute, Slovenia had a great opportunity to score but Joe Hart once again proved that he was by no doubt England's no:1 goalkeeper by pulling of a great double save to deny Slovenia a 1-0 lead.
Their was also some light entertainment for the spectators to enjoy when an intruder unexpectedly made his way onto the field but thankfully the security guards managed to track him down and escort him of the pitch.
The fourth official indicated a minimum of 6 minutes added time in which Kane scored what was likely to be the winner as he headed in a ball via a cross from Walker in the 93rd minute.
Southgate's men managed to see out the rest of the added time to steer England home to a 1-0 victory and guarantee a place in next summer's world cup.
Amar Patel
No comments:
Post a Comment