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England manager Gareth Southgate hailed four players including Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Chelsea star Cole Palmer after they helped the Three Lions secure a 2-0 win against Malta on Friday, November 17.
The Three Lions took an early lead in the eighth minute after Phil Foden's effort rebounded off Enrico Pepe into the back of the net. Harry Kane netted in the 75th minute to seal all three points in the 2024 UEFA Euros qualifier.
England are already at the summit of Group C with 19 points from seven games. However, their performance last night was vastly uninspired. Despite this, Southgate refused to criticize his side, instead choosing to credit four stars. He said (via METRO):
"These players have played so many games and have done so well for us so I am not going to hammer them for it. We weren’t where we [should be] but we got the win."
"He [Alexander-Arnold] has got outstanding quality. He and Phil [Foden] were the two in the first half that looked like opening the game up for us."
He added:
"Marc Guehi was good at the back, another very mature performace. He’s really grown as an international footballer. The changes brought more quality. They [Malta] don’t lose by fives and sixes and obviously, we didn’t create as many chances as we’d like to."
"Cole Palmer coming on for his debut had a good impact. He looked very comfortable in this environment. There are positives but we know we were not where we want to be and can be."
England next face North Macedonia away from home on Monday, November 20 for their final Euros qualifier.
How did Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Chelsea's Cole Palmer perform against Malta?
England looked devoid of creativity in the first half during their 2-0 win against Malta on Friday. However, they turned the game around in the second half. Let's take a look at the stats to see how Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Chelsea's Cole Palmer performed.
Alexander-Arnold had a brilliant man-of-the-match outing against Malta. The Liverpool star took full advantage of being deployed as a midfielder, having a pass accuracy of 92%, four shots in total, and creating one big chance. He also completed eight accurate long balls and won five duels.
On the other hand, Palmer came on as a second-half substitute for Marcus Rashford in the 61st minute. The Chelsea man had a pass accuracy of 89%, created one big chance, completed 100% of his dribbles, and won five duels.
