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Raheem Sterling’s goal in injury time and a missed penalty by Birkir Bjarnason gave the English victory (1: 0).
September 05, 2020, 8:52 PM
In the first round of the League of Nations, the Icelandic team hosted England, who were the clear favorites of the match. Phil Foden made his debut for the Three Lions and made a good debut, actively participating in most of his team’s attacks. The guests immediately took the ball under their control, occupying someone else’s half of the field. Kane managed to score an early goal but it was disallowed due to a dubious offside position. The VAR system does not work in League of Nations matches, so the main referee had no opportunity to verify the legality of his decision.
A few minutes later, Walker could have distinguished himself, joining the attack and taking a shot on goal from inside the penalty area, the ball after Kyle’s hit buzzing near the post. After that, the sharpness on Halldoursson’s door stopped emerging. Despite the tangible advantage of the game, the British failed to translate it into a goal. There were not even prerequisites for this. Controlling the ball was not very helpful. But in one of the episodes, the “Three Lions” still had a great chance to score, but Rice managed not to hit the ball after a pass from Sancho.
Hamren’s barriers occasionally took the lead and expected to score on set pieces, but none of the innings resulted in a shot on goal. Traustason could have scored with a direct free kick, but the hosts’ midfielder shot wide. Also, “our guys” failed to create anything ahead in the first half of the match. His rival was also unsuccessful. Control of the ball has yet to pay off Gareth Southgate’s team. Until the end of the first half, he failed to create a single dangerous moment. The participants of the game went to rest with boring “zeros” on the scoreboard.
Once play was resumed, he proceeded as before. The British immediately took the ball under their control and went on the offensive. The guests won several corners, but their serve led nowhere. The Southgate guards attacked with great force, but were still unable to open the enemy’s staggered defense. Players of the “three lions” again and again charged the ball into the penalty area, but the opposing defenders constantly counterattacked with ease.
In one of the episodes, Bodvarsson almost helped the opponent to score, cutting the ball after a free kick, but for “our boys” everything went well: the ball missed the goal. In the 70th minute, Walker seriously disappointed his team, leaving them outnumbered, earning a second yellow card. However, this did not affect the game’s drawing. The Icelanders continued to sit on the defensive, with no intention of attacking. Southgate made several changes to strengthen the attack, but this did not help the guests. Despite the fact that England with almost their entire team moved to someone else’s midfield, this did not bring much benefit.
At the end of the match, the guests still had a chance to score, earning a penalty. Ingason played one-handed in the penalty area following a hit from Sterling, for which he received a second yellow card, thus leveling the line-ups again. Sterling himself approached the ball and calmly implemented the penalty – 0: 1. In one minute, the ‘Vikings’ had an excellent chance to escape, also earning a penalty. But sadly, they didn’t take advantage of this. Bjarnason fired over the gate, contributing to England’s final victory. The Three Lions played a far from outstanding match, but still managed, albeit with great difficulty, to start the Nations League with a victory.
In the second round, Iceland will play Belgium and England will fight Denmark.
Iceland – England 0: 1
Objective: Sterling, 90 + 1 (penalty)
Iceland: Halldoursson – Hermannsson, Ingasson, Arnason, Magnusson – Traustason (Hallfredsson, 76), B. Bjarnason, Palsson, Thorsteinsson (A. Sigurdsson, 66) – A. Gudmundsson, Bodvarsson (H. Fridjonsson, 90 + 2)
England: Pickford – Walker, Gomez, Dyer, Trippier – Rice – Ward Praus, Foden (Ings, 69) – Sancho (Alexander-Arnold, 73), Kane (Greenwood, 78), Sterling
Warnings: Ingason – Walker, Gomez
Eliminations: Ingason, 89 (repeated warning) – Walker, 70 (repeated warning)
In 90 + 3 minutes B. Bjarnason missed the penalty (above)
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