Gareth Southgate’s men capped a promising display with a deserved victory as an experimental England side beat Holland 1-0 thanks to Jesse Lingard’s first international goal.
Time is running out for players to prove their worth with the World Cup just three months away, and the Three Lions boss does not have many more opportunities to tweak plans ahead of the tournament opener against Tunisia.
With that in mind Southgate raised eyebrows with some selections for the final game on foreign soil before heading to Russia, but England looked confident against one of the most notable World Cup absentees.
Tweet of the match:
Former skipper Alan Shearer rated England’s display.
A positive night for @England and a good result but against a very poor Dutch team. #NEDENG
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer) March 23, 2018
Moment of the match:
Jesse Lingard’s 59th-minute winner ended England’s two-and-a-half-game goal drought.
The Manchester United forward struck from the edge of the area after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain miscontrolled Danny Rose’s low cross.
It was his first goal for his country.
Stat of the match:
This was England’s first win against Holland in almost 22 years, their last having come at Euro 96.
Star man:
Jesse Lingard made the difference for the Three Lions. The forward took his goal exceptionally well and thrived in Southgate’s set-up.
Without Harry Kane there are always questions over where the goals will come from but Lingard provided one in Amsterdam.
England player ratings:
England: Jordan Pickford 6 (out of 10), Kieran Trippier 7, Kyle Walker 7, John Stones 7, Joe Gomez 6, Danny Rose 6, Jordan Henderson 7, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 5, Jesse Lingard 7, Raheem Sterling 7, Marcus Rashford 6.
Substitutes: Harry Maguire (for Gomez, 10 minutes) 6, Jamie Vardy (for Rashford, 67) 5, Danny Welbeck (for Sterling, 67) 5, Dele Alli (for Lingard, 67) 6, Ashley Young (for Rose, 67) 6, Eric Dier (for Maguire, 89) 5
Who’s up next?
England v Italy (Tuesday, March 27)
Portugal v Holland (Monday, March 26)
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