Craig Bellamy made the point beforehand that a boxing promoter would not put these opponents in the ring together; the gulf in class was just too great. It was possible to remember the words of the Wales manager as England surged into a 3-0 lead inside 20 minutes. It felt like a technical knockout, this friendly over with indecent haste.
Thomas Tuchel had stood by the players who had ignited his England tenure in September with the 5-0 World Cup qualifying win against Serbia in Belgrade, the buildup dominated by his omissions of Jude Bellingham, in particular, and Phil Foden. The manager simply wanted his team to build on the momentum they had generated, the excitement they created.
It was not as if Wembley was electrified, the Super Tommy Tuchel energy coursing everywhere. Wales were so poor in the first half that it did not feel like a fair fight. But there was still plenty for Tuchel to like ahead of the trip to play Latvia in Riga on Tuesday when his team could seal automatic qualification to the World Cup.
It was not a night when Bellingham or Foden were missed. Morgan Rogers made sure of that, excelling in the No 10 role. He opened the scoring with his first England goal and set up the second for Ollie Watkins, who played in place of the injured Harry Kane. Bukayo Saka was good, too, adding one of his specials for the third and that was basically that.
Wales, at least, roused themselves and they went close to a goal in the final stages which would have delighted their vociferous fans, who stayed until the bitter end – unlike their England counterparts. They sloped off long before full time. They had seen enough.
It was easy to fear for Wales in the early running – from the moment that Anthony Gordon was allowed so much space inside the area to work Karl Darlow. Bellamy had pledged to play on the front foot and he went with a strong lineup ahead of Monday’s crucial qualifying tie against Belgium in Cardiff.
But his players were meek, some of their efforts in the duels powder puff, embarrassing. England toyed with them, repeatedly getting in behind and they tore into a three-goal advantage. The manner of the concessions were galling for Bellamy, his plans laid to waste.
Karl Darlow fails to stop Bukayo Saka’s stunning strike hit the back of the net. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
The most interesting selection for Tuchel was probably John Stones, who he was able to play for the first time. Tuchel shunted Ezri Konsa to right-back in order to accommodate Stones alongside Marc Guéhi. Both centre-halves were involved in the breakthrough, the former getting his head to a Declan Rice corner and Guéhi doing well to stretch and keep the ball in on the byline. Wales assumed he would not reach it and stopped. Guéhi pinged it back for Rogers, whose first-time shot was marked by nonchalance.
The second goal was even worse from a Wales point of view. England had men over at the far post when Saka crossed from the inside left and it was Rogers rather than Rice who sent over a short-range lob. Guéhi could not score but Watkins had the time to control at the far post, allow the ball to drop and then touch home from one yard.
When the third went in, there was one obvious question after David Brooks had shown Saka inside and watched him bend a trademark left-footed curler into the far top corner; a lovely finish. Had he never seen Saka play before?
A penny for Bellamy’s thoughts at the interval. Actually, they were not difficult to imagine. Gordon subjected Neco Williams to a torrid first 45 minutes, all speed and slippery skills but the Wales right-back was hardly alone in going awol. Rogers had fun in between the lines; Welsh resistance was conspicuous only by its absence.
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England’s first-half dominance was total; Tuchel also had to like his players’ hunger in the counter-press. Saka was denied by a Joe Rodon block after running up the inside right channel at 2-0 while Watkins was guilty of a grisly miss in the 40th minute, slicing off target from Elliot Anderson’s blast across the face of goal.
Marcus Rashford has good memories of playing Wales. He scored two in the 3-0 win over them at the Qatar World Cup and Tuchel got him on for Watkins at the start of the second half. e asked Rashford to work off the left and switched Gordon into a central attacking role, with Rogers in support.
Tuchel did not want England’s levels to drop. He had a mini melt-down when Gordon, having won possession and streaked clear up the inside right, could not execute the cross to Rashford, who was free in front of goal. Saka then cut Wales open for Rogers to hit the crossbar, although Rice was offside in the buildup.
What was this on 56 minutes? A Wales shot and a good one, too, Brooks’ volley forcing Jordan Pickford to save with his feet. England did drop off in the closing stages and Wales restored a measure of pride by pushing for a consolation goal, which they almost got.
One substitute, Chris Mepham, extended Pickford with a header while another, Mark Harris, nodded over from close range.
