Key events
Thomas Tuchel: “We should have scored more”
I think the energy was right, the quality was there and we should have scored more,” the England head coach tells ITV. “After the first goal we had 10 or 15 minutes with too many ball losses and lost our focus and concentration but the second half, we found it again and should have scored more.”
On Elliot Anderson’s debut: “Very good, very very good,” he says. “He was a bit nervous this week but then did good and we said let’s try it and he did it. That was the test and I think he passed the test. Why should he not play in Serbia?”
On England’s conspicuous lack of zip when it came to pinging the ball around: “I think we missed the little moments to accelerate the game,” he says. “Maybe Ebz [Eberechi Eze] didn’t have his best day in the No10, the last pass from Noni [Madueke] wasn’t clinical enough and Rashford had good moments but couldn’t finish them. It’s stuff that can happen against a narrow team. The second goal should have come earlier because it gave us a lot of freedom. We’ve learned a lot and I’m glad for the players. Now we will prove a point in Belgrade.”
Match report: England 2-0 Andorra
Group K: It was nothing more than a contractual obligation fulfilled,” writes David Hytner from Villa Park. “There was little to see here at Villa Park. Or get excited about. England beat Andorra, as they always do. They did not concede against them, as always. And Thomas Tuchel’s record in World Cup qualifying Group K now shows the maximum number of points from four ties – and four clean sheets.”
But …
An email: “On ITV, Lee Dixon is asserting that Thomas Tuchel will find ‘positives’ to take from this game,” writes Martin Gamage. “For the life of me I have no idea what those might be – and nor does Lee I suspect as he didn’t elaborate. A pretty execrable football match all round.”
Elliot Anderson: “It was good out there and I enjoyed it,” England’s debuitant tells ITV. “We knew they would be hard to break down. I should have scored, but next time hopefully.”
A question: if it’s repeatedly drilled into the players on an elite team that vastly inferior opposition will be “hard to break down”, does that make the minnows in question even harder to break down? Does their unbreakdownability achieve some sort of mythical but undeserved status in the subconscious of the players tasked with breaking them down? Andorra clearly have been hard to break down in the past two games they’ve played against England but I don’t think they should be.
How Group K stands: England are top with 12 points from four games without conceding a goal. THey’ve played one game more than Serbia who are five points back and will see Thomas Tuchel’s side in Belgrade next Tuesday. Albania are third, two points behind Serbia having played one game more, while Albania and Andorra are making up the numbers.
Noni Madueke: “First and formeost it’s good to get the win, and the clean sheet” says the England winger in an interview with ITV. “These are World Cup qualifiers so that’s very important. We knew what type of game it was going to be, playing in our opponents’ half most of the game. Sometimes it was frustrating but it’s about getting the goals and just … yeah.”
Full-time: England 2-0 Andorra
It’s job done for England, who win courtesy of an own goal created by Noni Madueke in the first half and a Declan Rice header from close range to convert an excellent Reece James cross in the second. England were far from impressive at Villa Park but can take some positives from this game.
In order: Noni Madueke was a constant lively presence, nobody got injured and Elliot Anderson had a good debut. As expected, there was a lot of huffing and puffing from the hosts against extremely limited opposition, but not a great deal in the way of Andorran houses being blown down. Next stop for England: Belgrade on Tuesday.
90+2 min: A penny for the thoughts of Jordan Pickford, who I’m not sure has even touched the ball in this half. He certainly hasn’t had to make anything resembling a save over the 90 minutes. Hopefully Serbia will give him a sterner test in Belgrade on Tuesday. It’s over at Villa Park, where England have won.
90+1 min: We’re into three minutes of recommended add-ons.
88 min: Okay, so there was an arm across Madueke’s chest as he tried to squeeze through that gap but I don’t think it was a foul. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter.
87 min: Madueke goes down in the Andorra box as he tries to squeeze between two players to run on to a return pass. He appeals for a penalty but doesn’t get one asnd I think that’s the correct decision. I havent’ seen a replay yet but it looks like he was squeezed for space and just lost his balance.
86 min: An Anthony Gordon corner is headed clear. It was decent inswinging delivery but England couldn’t capitalise.
84 min: Madueke squares the ball across the Andorra penalty area, where Morgan Gibbs-White pulls the trigger. Iker Alvarez gets down to save.
82 min: Rogers drills a low cross into the Andorra penalty area from the right after latching on to a weighted pass in behind from Madueke. He tries to pick out Anthony Gordon but Babot beats him to the ball and puts it out for a corner.
81 min: Tino Livramento picks out Rogers in the penalty area with an imaginative pass played with fade (or is it draw?) into the Andorra box. Rogers’ control lets him down, the ball gets away from him and Andorra clear their lines.
79 min: England substitution: Morgan Gibbs-White comes on for Ebereche Eze, who hasn’t had one of his better days at the office.
77 min: Noni Madueke picks out Anthony Gordon with a neat cross floated to the far post. The Newcastle winger miscues his header and shoulders the ball goalwards. His effort is on target, Alvarez saves but the flag had gone up for offside.
75 min: Rogers is playing to the local gallery, sprinting to block two Andorra clearances in quick succession and put the ball out for a throw-in. He’s about to be joined on the pitch by his Villa teammate Ezri Konsa, who is coming on for Marc Guehi.
73 min: “Many thanks for ‘publishing’ my thoughts in full, but I think you’ve missed the point I was trying to make,” writes Andy Toner of Pointless fame. “I’m actually Irish and not an Ingerlander. I just wanted to say that international football needs an element of jeopardy to make it interesting. This game has none. Therefore, I still think it’s the definition of bad sport, regardless of the size of the country involved.”
71 min: “After a bit of searching, the internet is conflicted on whether Osman is Muslim or not,” writes Joe Pearson. “The main argument for the assertion is that he is Turkish-Cypriot on his father’s side and has Somali roots on his mother’s side, both of which are predominantly Muslim countries. Not enough to convince a skeptic like me, but there you go.”
69 min: England triple-substitution: Morgan Rogers, Anthony Gordon and Tino Livramento on for Rice, Rashford and James. It’s no surprise that Rogers gets a huge welcome from the Villa Park crowd.
GOAL! England 2-0 Andorra (Rice 67)
England double their lead. That’s more like it. From wide on the right, Reece James sends a wonderful cross towards the far post, across the edge of the Andorra six-yard box. Declan Rice is unmarked and makes no mistake, scoring with a downward header. It’s his sixth goal for England.
64 min: Pardon my French but there’s not really any other way to dress it up – this match is dying on its arse. The atmosphere is pancake flat, England appear to have completely run out of ideas and Thomas Tuchel looks in a foul mood on the touchline as he complains to the fourth official about something or other.
61 min: After decent work from Eze, the ball finds its way to Rashford, whose shot from distance is deflected out for a corner. The inswinger finds Burn at the far post, he heads the ball back across the face of goal and once again there’s nobody in an England shirt on hand to take advantage.
59 min: Andorra makes some changes, bringing on three substitutes despite the pointlessness of their very presence at Villa Park. A Madueke cross into the Andorra penalty area is blocked and booted clear by Christian Garcia. There wasn’t a single player in an England shirt in that box when the ball arrived.
55 min: “Quick question – what is the point of Andorra?” asks Andy Toner. “They’ve managed to organise themselves into two banks of five in order to keep the score down. They’re reasonably good footballers who can keep a decent shape. Whats the next step? Trying to score an effing goal? Christ, if that happens then the whole shape will disintegrate and they’ll lose 8-1! So, what is the point of this? Why do people spend huge amounts of money to watch it? It’s the definition of ‘bad sport’ which lacks any jeopardy whatsoever.”
Quite apart from the fact that I’m not sure why everything has to have a point, I could ask you the same question, but about England. They haven’t won diddly-squat since 1966 and clearly aren’t going to do so any time soon, so why bother even trying?
52 min: Alvarez, who is the son of the Andorra coach and plays for Cordoba in the Spanish second tier, rides to the rescue again. On this occasion he denies Anderson a goal on debut with another fine save. Harry Kane had teed up Anderson but ALvarez got a hand to his goalbound effort.
50 min: Madueke tees up Eze with a pull-back from inside the Andorra penalty area but he’s denied by a splendid save by Alvarez. Marcus Rashford sends his follow-up wide of the far post. Eze cannot believe he hasn’t scored.
49 min: Anything Biel can do, Dan Burn can do better –the Newcastle centre-back tries to pick out Reece James with a crossfield pass but sends the ball sailing over his head and into the stand.
48 min: Biel gets on the ball and canters down the right wing for Andorra before returning possession to England with a wayward crossfield pass.
47 min: Reece James, Marc Guehi and Ebereche Eze channel their inner Isoceles and play some slow and ponderous triangles in the right corner of the pitch before the new Arsenal recruit gives the ball away with a misplaced pass.
Second half: England 1-0 Andorra
46 min: Play resumes, with no changes in personnel on either side.
England’s first Muslim player: Much has been made of the fact that Djed Spence will become England’s first Muslim player if he gets a run out tonight or against Serbia on Tuesday. However, Leeroy wants a word: “Why has everyone forgotten Leon Osman is Muslim?” he says. “Surely the true first for England nearly fifteen years back (capped twice at 31 under Roy Hodgson)?”
Funnily enough, I think I have Leon’s phone number but I’m not sure I know him well enough to text and ask what religion he is. I’m sure he’ll be the first to set the record straight if he feels a record he is entitled to is being robbed from under his nose.
An email: “Why play Rice in a position, where he is trying to get into the half-space and must take a lot of balls on the half turn, when you have Gibbs-White?” asks Paul Sutcliffe. “I don’t think he is even average in this position.”
Half-time: England 1-0 Andorra
The players walk off for their break and one suspects it is Andorra’s Koldo Alvarez who will be by far the happier of the two head coaches. England have had a goal scored on their behalf, Noni Madueke and Elliot Anderson have played quite well and … er, that’s about it as far as extracting positives from this performance from the hosts goes. It’s the first England international to be played at Villa Park since 2001 and the crowd is half-asleep.
44 min: A loose pass from Declan Rice rolls out for an Andorra throw-in despite the best attempts of Madueke to keep the ball in play. It’s half-time.
43 min: Marcus Rashford picks up the ball on the left, jinks past two men in yellow shirts and then runs into a third.
An email: “They tell me modern players are fitter by a mile than their 1960s and 70s counterparts,” writes Roger Kirkby. “They don’t run anymore, so how can that be?” Miaow.
39 min: Most of England’s best work is coming when they get the ball out wide and on this occasion, a corner is recyled and Eze curls a delivery into the penalty area. Harry Kane leaps and sends a header a couple of yards over the bar. There wasn’t much pace on that delivery from Eze, so it wasn’t the easiest of opportunities.
38 min: Another England corner. Rice’s delivery from the right curls towards the far post but is headed out for another corner by Christian Garcia.
35 min: Kane drops deep to pick up a pass inside from Marcus Rashford and then tries to spread it right and wide. His pass is dismal, Andorra intercept the ball and clear their lines.
33 min: England corner. Rice’s delivery to the near post is headed clear by the first defender. England recycle the ball but it’s wellied clear by Moises San Nicolas next time it’s sent into the Andorra penalty area.
