England 3-0 Wales

Dominic-Calvert Lewin, Conor Coady and Danny Ings scored their first goals for England as Gareth Southgate’s side clinched a 3-0 win over Wales in Thursday night’s friendly at Wembley.

The fit Calvert-Lewin, making his England debut after scoring nine goals in seven games for Everton this season, opened the scoring in the 26th minute when he led a cross from Jack Grealish home.

Wolves center-back Coady doubled England’s lead early in the second half, scoring his first goal in 112 appearances for the club and country when he pushed a Kieran Trippier free kick past Wayne Hennessey.

Ings, another starter in an experimental England lineup, then completed the scoring with a kick from overhead as substitute Tyrone Mings headed a corner across the goal.

Ings’ goal capped a satisfying evening for Southgate, whose preparations for the game were once again cut short when Jadon Sancho, Ben Chilwell and Tammy Abraham became the latest England players to violate coronavirus guidelines over the weekend.

How New England beat Wales

Perhaps not surprisingly, given that interruption, Southgate’s men got off to a disjointed start, with Wales seeing most of the ball in the early stages despite lacking Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and David Brooks.

England’s starting lineup only had 54 caps between them, but while some of their teammates took time to adjust to the game, missed passes and cheaply gave up possession, Calvert-Lewin made a quick comeback.

The 23-year-old threatened for the first time in the 13th minute, dribbling past Hennessey after catching a pass from Ings on the right side of the Wales box, then cutting the ball into goal.

Wales were able to clear their lines on that occasion, however, and soon they were threatening on the other end, a poor defensive header from Bukayo Saka, another England rookie, who landed on Kieffer Moore, who volleyed wildly out.

Wales regretted that missed opportunity a few minutes later when Trippier, England’s captain for the night, found Grealish on the right flank. The Aston Villa man, excellent in his first outing in England, walked away from Ethan Ampadu and eliminated Calvert-Lewin with a precise delivery.

Wales tried to muster an immediate response, but Chris Mepham’s header from Jonny Williams’ corner was stopped by Nick Pope, and the Burnley goalkeeper ran off his line shortly after to bravely reject Moore, who was running towards goal.

Moore was proving to be a handful for England’s three-man defense up to that point, but was forced to withdraw with injury after that, along with Pope and Wales rarely threatened after that.

Coady, who made only his second appearance for England, scored his goal just eight minutes after the break, dispatching Trippier with a deft shot at the far post.

England continued to advance, with Ings punishing weaker Wales to send a desperate kick over Hennessey from eight yards.

It was the first time that three players scored their first goals for England in the same match since 1963, and they would have scored four if Saka’s deflected goal had not been brilliantly retained by Hennessey shortly after Ings’ goal.

By then, however, the damage had already been done.

Southgate’s options were exhausted for this game. In addition to Sancho, Chilwell and Abraham being unavailable, Harry Kane was rested and Raheem Sterling had retired due to injury. However, on this evidence, England has a lot of depth.

Whats Next?

Both teams now turn their attention to the UEFA Nations League. England face Belgium in Group A2 live Sky Sports Football HD Starting at 4:30 PM on Sunday, starting at 5:00 PM, while Wales faces the Republic of Ireland in Group B4, and coverage begins on Sky Sports Football HD at 1:30 PM before the start of 2:00 p.m.