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England are looking to score three wins out of three in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup as they host Poland tonight.
Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions won their first two qualifiers last week, beating San Marino 5-0 at Wembley on Thursday before reaching a 2-0 victory over Albania in Tirana on Sunday.
With Poland already having lost points in a 3-3 draw with Hungary, England know that victory would put them in firm control of Group I even at this early stage.
Southgate will be boosted by the fact that Poland star Robert Lewandowski is injured, but he may regret the absence of the Bayern Munich forward as he would have provided England’s defense with a world-class test.
The game will also be Southgate’s last chance to see his team in action before naming his team for Euro 2020, so there are more than three points at stake for some players tonight.
Follow all the action with Dan Kilpatrick at Wembley on our LIVE match blog.
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Maguire backs stone after mistake
“John has been brilliant this year. We are defenders, we make mistakes and when we make mistakes they control us, ”Maguire told ITV.
“Obviously a small mistake but he makes up for it with a great header off the back post. I said, ‘just go on, go on, we’ll get the victory’ and we did.
“We are defenders, we always make mistakes. We don’t like to make mistakes, but sometimes goals are our fault. We are not perfect.
“John has had a little problem tonight, but he will come back strong; he’s in very good shape for the club, he’s in very good shape for the country.
“It was a good performance of him to come back strong in the reaction he did and getting the assist is important for the team.”
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Dan Kilpatrick was at Wembley tonight and qualified the Southgate team.
Full time | England 2-1 Poland
Job done for the Three Lions.
93 minutes: Bednarek contacts Augustyniak, but the volley dies down. That should be that …
James robson
What a blow was Maguire and the Stones’ credit for the takedown. It doesn’t erase his mistake, but he has put England back in control.
You know your mistake won’t be so easily forgotten, but that was a good response to your moment of horror.
We’re in four minutes of injury time …
GOAL! England 2-1 Poland | Harry Maguire, 84 minutes
England has returned to the fore!
John Stones makes amends by reaching the corner at the back post and back through the goal.
Maguire meets the ball on the spin and throws a great high volley through a touch from Szczesny – grand finale.
81 minutes: Poland is gaining confidence, it looks like it feels like a famous victory … but will it risk a valuable point at this stage?
James robson
It’s going to be fascinating and informative to see how Stones reacts to this for the rest of the season.
He has been playing with such confidence, but this will haunt him. How you answer might well determine whether Southgate picks you for the Euros.
