Malta v England: Euro 2024 qualifier – as it happened!
Key events
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Time for me to sign off. Thanks for your company and correspondence. It’s been quite a day for England supporters: a six-hour rave disguised as a Test match, followed by a nice calm stint in the chill-out zone watching the football. Do join us again in the morning for the cricket, or if you can’t handle all that excitement, drop in on Monday night when I’ll be watching England take on North Macedonia at Old Trafford.
Here’s Rob Knap, picking up on Mary Waltz’s email (45 min). “I tend to agree with Mary’s comment,” he says, “it’s difficult to get excited about this kind of mismatch, though always good to see players like TAA and Saka in full flow. In fact, it’s the selection which is most interesting. I know this is hardly novel to suggest Maguire is lucky to get a start, but, well, Maguire is lucky to start. Perhaps it’s because Southgate knew it would be a fairly easy run-out, and he can work the ball better than Mings when he moves up the pitch (as you said in the commentary).” Both were good at that tonight.
“But I wonder what Mings is thinking after the season he’s had. Confession: I’m a Villa fan, but having seen them play several times this year (and previously had doubts about him), I feel he’s really tightened up his game and looks as good a defender as we’ve had for a long time. He’s been simply superb for Villa – as Southgate will know. However good a guy Maguire is, I imagine easy to manage, etc, and he’s clearly a good player too, despite the troubles he’s had recently, I just find it odd that Southgate carries on picking him when he’s hardly played and there are (Mings I think, others are available!) much better alternatives based on current form, mindset, etc.
“Keep up the good work, and hope to see you on the OBO during the Ashes too!” Ha, thanks, I’ll be there, as long as the Aussies haven’t given up and gone home before the third Test.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is talking to Kelly Somers of Channel 4. “I love playing football,” he says, “I love representing my country. To play the full 90, I was happy… and I’ll remember that one, yeah.”
The goal? “First touch was a bit sloppy. I just thought, go across the keeper. It was about making sure you hot the target.”
Does this position – midfield – get the best out of him? He hesitates. “I dunno. It feels comfortable. For me, it’s more getting into this team.” What would he say is his best position now? “I don’t know! Hopefully I’m one of those players that can be used in different positions. I’m not too bothered where I play as long as I’m playing. I try and bring what I bring to the game, which is creativity and goals. No matter what position I’m in, I’ll give it my all.” He adds, generously: “the manager has always tried to get me into the team”.
If it was excitement you were after this evening, the place to be was North Macedonia. They went 2-0 up in the first half against Ukraine, then conceded three (and a red card) in the second.
“Not sure England have ever been 0-0 with Malta after 70 minutes,” says Simon McMahon (72 min). “Though of course they have, famously, trailed San Marino. Maybe James Maslen is confusing England with Scotland?”
Job done. England maintain their immaculate record in the Euro qualifiers, which now consists of three wins out of three. The star of the show was Trent Alexander-Arnold, playing at inside-right, engineering the first goal and scoring the second.
90+2 min Rashford bursts towards the box, gets tripped, and doesn’t win a free kick. He’s been bright, with his passing more than anything.
90 min Is there much more of this, the Fleet Street copytakers used to ask us. Not too much: three more minutes.
88 min “God save the king,” sing the England fans. Last time they were in Malta, they were singing “We’re fucking shit.” The song doesn’t remain the same, but the scoreline may well do.
85 min Well, we got the goal I was asking for, albeit via a miscarriage of justice. And now we nearly get the Eze goal I was after. He starts the move, feeding Rashford, whose low left-foot shot is parried by the keeper. It comes out to Eze, who has a thicket of defenders in front of him: his shot is on target but easily kept out.
GOAL! Malta 0-4 England (Wilson 84)Wilson sends the keeper the wrong way and passes the ball into the corner.
England's Callum Wilson (second right) celebrates with teammates after slotting home from the spot. Photograph: Nick Potts/PAPenalty to England!Given! The ref was sent to the monitor, but it’s a very harsh decision as the defender, Borg, was about three feet from Wilson’s foot as he crossed. Wilson is going to take the pen too.
81 min Alexander-Arnold is still doing what he did early on, playing ambitious passes and getting most of them right. He releases Wilson, who thinks he has a shout for handball as his cross is blocked…
78 min Come on England, get another goal. Preferably scored by Eze.
Eberechi Eze scurries forward. Photograph: Nigel Keene/ProSports/Shutterstock76 min Another sub for Malta: Jurgen Degrabriele replaces Jodi Jones, who’s been “probably Malta’s best player on the night” according to the nearest C4 pundit.
73 min The moment of the match for Man United fans. Maguire’s long crossfield ball releases Rashford, who jinks to the byline, only to be shepherded away for a corner. The corner reaches Maguire’s head, but he can’t get much impetus behind it.
72 min “Not that long ago,” says James Maslen, “a match like this would be 0-0 as an unimaginative England side looked to find a goal. Now we seem to destroy teams like this.”
69 min A nice moment as Maddison gives way to Eberechi Eze, who becomes the 90th player used by Gareth Southgate.
66 min England have switched to more of a 3-3-1-3, with Guehi at left-back and Maguire at RCB rather than left, because of Mings being left-footed. The front three are Foden, Wilson and Rashford who nearly combine for a goal now. Rashford comes deep and flicks a pass to Foden. He looks up to see who’s in space and finds Wilson, whose shot is blocked.
64 min Subs for Malta too: Kristensen and Nwoko off, Nikolai Muskat and Alexander Satariano on.
63 min Mings announces himself with a line-breaking ball that has Andy Townsend murmuring “Great pass”.
More subs! Kane off...Kane, Henderson and Shaw bow out. Rashford, Callum Wilson and Tyrone Mings come on.
60 min A similar mistake at the other end allows Foden to feed Kane, who skews his shot when it might have been easier to score.
58 min A mistake by Harry Maguire, who rolls the ball to the nearest opponent, but Malta can’t make him pay.
55 min Malta’s ambition for this half may be to get a shot away, but first they’re going to have to get hold of the ball.
51 min I’m trying to work out what England’s formation is now. In possession, ie all the time, it seems to be 2-4-1-2-1, with TAA as the piggy in the middle.
49 min After some scrapping in midfield, Henderson plays a fine ball down the left to Kane, who is not quite quick enough to make anything of it.
47 min Malta have made a change too, with Yannick Yankam replacing Matthew Guillaumier in the centre of midfield.
Sub! Foden for SakaSaka is off to nurse that sore ankle, with Phil Foden coming on – the first appearance tonight by a Man City player.
Half-time! Malta 0-3 England45+1 min Saka and Trent are hitting it off. Another through ball brings a run and a shot, well saved by Bonello. And that’s half-time, with England enjoying a cruise in the Mediterranean.
45 min “Greetings from California,” says Mary Waltz. “Normally most international competitions draw my interest. And I tried my best to justify committing 2 hours to this match. But the disparity in talent makes it very hard to watch.”
