Wales 0-3 England (Rashford 50′ 68′, Foden 51′)
Marcus Rashford sprinted onto the long pass down the right. He made to cut inside, substitute Connor Roberts desperately tracking back, the Burnley right-back somehow at Wales left-back and so out of his depth against the Manchester United forward, his arms flailing as he tried to keep up it, was hard to tell if he was waving or drowning.
Rashford inside the Wales box. Rashford with the little jink. Rashford burying the ball into the back of the net, for his second goal of the game, and third of this World Cup. Rashford who was racially abused by his own fans after missing a penalty in the Euro 2020 final still playing for his country with no less energy and determination. And that wonderful smile on his face, shared with England manager Gareth Southgate when he was substituted in the 76th with the job well and truly done.
Who was it questioning whether Southgate could affect a game positively with his tactics? It escapes the memory.
Sometimes, it’s the little things. Half-time of an admittedly lacklustre game and the England manager tweaked his wingers, switching Rashford and Phil Foden from right to left. Six minutes later, they were two goals ahead, two strikes within one minute, from two forwards now on different sides that appeared to so confuse Wales’s defenders.
The pair, in for Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka, who started England’s opening two games, made the strongest of cases to be the players either side of Harry Kane in the starting lineup when England play Senegal in the Last 16 after topping Group B.
The brilliant free kick from Rashford on 50 minutes finally opening up a game in which Wales had seemed perfectly contented to sit back and make as boring as possible. It was Foden who won the free kick, with one of those tricky dribbles, the ball never more than a millimetre away from his left boot, surrounded by three Wales players before one was forced to take him down.
More from Football
Then, almost from the restart, Rashford down the right pressured Ben Davies into losing the ball, which ran to Kane, and what a low ball it was to find Foden sprinting in from that left side at the back post for two.
Indeed, Rashford and Foden were arguably the two brightest things in an overcast first half, when you could feel that angst and anguish building among England’s fans, from all the way back home in England, to the Internet, to here in the stadium in Doha.
Rashford had England’s first chance, Kane popping a ball through on 10 minutes and the Manchester United man opting for a flick over the onrushing Danny Ward, who smothered so well.
Foden injected a bit of energy into England’s play, in a game where the pitch’s arteries were clogged, either with Wales players defending in numbers or England players getting in each other’s way.
Such had been the noise around the Manchester City forward, England manager Southgate had urged the nation — from pundits to punters — to stop placing too much pressure on a 22-year-old, who only made his first World Cup start on Tuesday night.
He had a little dribble, early on, to loosen up those sprightly little limbs, and soon after dragged a low shot wide of a post. Later in the half, Foden sparked an attack, dribbling at speed from half-way, feinting past one opponent while another three trailed in his wake. He passed off to Kane, who found Rashford, but when the final ball was required to find Foden, who had continued his run into the box, it was blocked for a corner.
In another move, later in the first half, Jude Bellingham combined cleverly with Kyle Walker before flicking the ball to Foden. He shaped to shoot into the far left corner, the type of shot he can so frequently arc perfectly out of the goalkeeper’s reach, but this one flew high and wide.
So England topped the group, seven points out of a possible nine, nine goals for, two against. Rashford an early contender for the Golden Boot, with three in three.
The panic that ensued after 90 minutes of a goalless draw with the USA — second in the group — and 45 minutes against Wales quelled. Perhaps people should pause for a second before they hit send on that tweet. Then press delete.
Man Utd's most loyal servant should be dropped for good