It wasn't exactly an enthralling game but a first-half penalty from Harry Kane was enough to secure an unbeaten qualifying campaign for England on a soggy night in Vilnius.
Having already booked a place at next year's World Cup, Gareth Southgate was in an experimental mood for England’s final qualifier; making seven changes and switching to a 3-4-3 system in a bid to shake things up after a ponderous performance against Slovenia on Thursday.
The England boss also introduced two Harrys to the side in Maguire and Winks for their debuts and in the process fielded the most players named Harry in an England XI since 1903. Sadly that was probably one of the most interesting things to happen on a dull night at the LFF Stadium.
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Lithuania rarely threatened going forward but often made themselves difficult to break down, although there was a slight lapse of concentration from their back-line early on.
A delicious cross from Aaron Cresswell that was crying out for someone to nod home was very nearly converted by an unmarked Maguire but it scarcely evaded the debutant’s path.
Southgate’s side continued to probe and had a lot of the ball but were mostly reduced to long-range pot-shots until a clumsy piece of Lithuanian defending gifted England with the opportunity to take the lead just before the half-hour mark.
Jordan Henderson glanced the ball into the path of Dele Alli who swiftly latched onto it before being clattered by Arunas Klimavicius in the box.
Captain Kane took responsibility from the spot and made no mistake with an accurate drive into the corner. The talismanic centre-forward now has fifteen goals in his last ten games for club and country.
Kane’s Spurs teammate Harry Winks played well on his debut and was the bright spark for England.
It was almost a dream debut as well. Another pacy delivery by Cresswell was spilled by Ernestas Setkus and fell to Winks who - after some quick feet on the edge of the box - fired in a well-struck shot that was parried away by the goalkeeper.
The remaining half an hour or so offered very little to write home about apart from a long-range effort from Alli, a back-post chance for Cresswell and England fans ironically chanting “it’s just like watching Brazil”.
The Three Lions faithful will get the chance to watch the real thing next month with England facing Brazil and Germany in friendly matches at Wembley; although Southgate's stuttering side will have to improve for those two fixtures if they want to leave with respectable results.
Written by Joe Citrone
Having already booked a place at next year's World Cup, Gareth Southgate was in an experimental mood for England’s final qualifier; making seven changes and switching to a 3-4-3 system in a bid to shake things up after a ponderous performance against Slovenia on Thursday.
The England boss also introduced two Harrys to the side in Maguire and Winks for their debuts and in the process fielded the most players named Harry in an England XI since 1903. Sadly that was probably one of the most interesting things to happen on a dull night at the LFF Stadium.
Embed from Getty Images
Lithuania rarely threatened going forward but often made themselves difficult to break down, although there was a slight lapse of concentration from their back-line early on.
A delicious cross from Aaron Cresswell that was crying out for someone to nod home was very nearly converted by an unmarked Maguire but it scarcely evaded the debutant’s path.
Southgate’s side continued to probe and had a lot of the ball but were mostly reduced to long-range pot-shots until a clumsy piece of Lithuanian defending gifted England with the opportunity to take the lead just before the half-hour mark.
Jordan Henderson glanced the ball into the path of Dele Alli who swiftly latched onto it before being clattered by Arunas Klimavicius in the box.
Captain Kane took responsibility from the spot and made no mistake with an accurate drive into the corner. The talismanic centre-forward now has fifteen goals in his last ten games for club and country.
Kane’s Spurs teammate Harry Winks played well on his debut and was the bright spark for England.
It was almost a dream debut as well. Another pacy delivery by Cresswell was spilled by Ernestas Setkus and fell to Winks who - after some quick feet on the edge of the box - fired in a well-struck shot that was parried away by the goalkeeper.
The remaining half an hour or so offered very little to write home about apart from a long-range effort from Alli, a back-post chance for Cresswell and England fans ironically chanting “it’s just like watching Brazil”.
The Three Lions faithful will get the chance to watch the real thing next month with England facing Brazil and Germany in friendly matches at Wembley; although Southgate's stuttering side will have to improve for those two fixtures if they want to leave with respectable results.
Written by Joe Citrone
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