The Three Lions were troubled at times in a 3-0 victory over Scotland, but made the most of the chances which came their way at Wembley
England were far from faultless against Scotland on Friday night, with the visitors to Wembley exposing defensive frailties at times.
The Three Lions were fortunate to preserve a lead given to them by Daniel Sturridge on a couple of occasions, with James Forrest and Robert Snodgrass squandering golden opportunities.
In much the same way as they did during a famous clash at Euro 96, the hosts were able to make the Scots pay for their profligacy in front of goal almost immediately.
There was to be no Gazza-esque magic on this occasion, but an Adam Lallana header calmed any home nerves and paved the way for what would end up being a comfortable-looking 3-0 win – as Gary Cahill rounded off the scoring.
Gareth Southgate, with two victories and a draw during his interim spell at the helm, will feel that there is still plenty to work on – either for him or somebody else – but England can take some positives from their evening’s work.
Winning is always a usual habit to get into, regardless of how you get over the line, and scoring goals will always give you a chance of recording successes.
Southgate’s men were as clinical as they possibly could be in their latest World Cup qualifier, with a first perfect conversion rate recorded in two years.
Quite fittingly, Sturridge and Cahill were also on target in a 3-0 friendly victory over Peru back in May 2014 – with the Liverpool striker opening the scoring around the half-hour mark.
England would fail to build on that win, as they headed towards the World Cup finals in Brazil, but will hope that momentum established at this stage will carry them towards, and through, the next global showpiece at Russia 2018.
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