England 3-0 Costa Rica: Gordon shines in delayed final warm-up game | OneFootball

Anthony Gordon scored and assisted in an encouraging display as England coasted to a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica in their delayed final warm-up game before their World Cup opener against Croatia next Wednesday.

Declan Rice rolled in the opener to put the Three Lions in front, after kickoff was moved forward an hour to nearby lightening, and they should have been two in front when Noni Madueke took the ball around the goalkeeper and hit the post.

Gordon deserved his goal that eventually came in the latter stages of the second half when he dispatched a penalty awarded handball, before substitute Ollie Watkins capped off England’s preparations with an easy header minutes before full time.

As it happened

England were much faster out of the blocks than in their first warm-up game against New Zealand as both Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane’s early shouts for a penalty were waived away by referee Facundo Tello.

Bellingham had gone close with an effort deflected narrowly wide, before Anthony Gordon collected the ball and darted towards the left byline and cutting it back for Rice to caress the shot into the bottom right corner just 10 minutes in.

England were the dominant force in the early stages and pressed on before the first drinks break, as Kane met Gordon’s free kick delivery from the left only to see his header tipped wide by Sequeira.

Madueke was in disbelief that he hadn’t doubled the Three Lions’ advantage when he was slotted in behind by Kane and rolled the ball around the leg of Sequeira and hit the post using his weaker left foot from yards out.

England’s captain had the ball in his hands, ready to take a penalty awarded after Gordon went down inside the box with Johnson breathing down his neck, but Tello was called over to the monitor for a second look and reversed her on-field call.

Bellingham danced his way into the penalty area from the left channel with the game approaching the final stages and cut back to Eberechi Eze, whose shot was handled on its way wide by a Costa Rican defender and Tello pointed to the spot for a second time.

Gordon powerfully dispatched the penalty into the top left corner giving the goalkeeper no chance and putting Costa Rica out of sight with just over 20 minutes of regular time remaining.

England should have had a third when substitute Morgan Rogers steered the shot wide, one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but he refused to punish Costa Rica for some poor defending as some legs began to tire.

Watkins punished Sequeira for carelessly beating Rogers’ curling effort from the edge of the penalty area in the 86th minute, nodding home from practically on the goal line to round off a far more encouraging display.

England’s opener against Croatia will kick off at 21:00 (BST) next Wednesday, with the nation expecting a victory to get their bid to end 60 years of hurt with a first World Cup triumph since 1966 off to the perfect start.

England analysis: stronger team, stronger performance

It was Thomas Tuchel’s responsibility this evening to dispel any concern England fans carried into the game after Saturday’s tepid 1-0 victory against New Zealand, the World Cup’s lowest ranked side, and he delivered on that front.

Anthony Gordon was one of the brighter outlets in the second half of the first warm-up game and was lively from the off against Costa Rica, proving a handful for Sam Johnson and leading to the right-back finding himself in the book.

Barcelona’s new signing created the opportunity for Declan Rice to open the scoring with a great burst of pace towards the byline and incisive cutback, before showing the England faithful that he could be trusted in a penalty shootout if necessary.

The Three Lions were just as dominant as they were at the weekend, with 82% of the possession and managing to limit their opponents to just one shot on goal. Though they were poor, it’s a marked improvement to the frailty on show against New Zealand.

Alongside Manchester City target Elliot Anderson, Rice provided a solid midfield base that his country were desperately lacking last time out and found himself in the perfect place to steer England into the lead.

But it wasn’t quite as encouraging a display from Noni Madueke and Morgan Rogers, who both missed chances that they would be expected to score nine times out of ten in the Premier League either side of the break.

It won’t do them any favors as Tuchel decided to leave his substitutes until late and formulate the starting line up to face his team’s World Cup nemeses Croatia next Wednesday.

On the whole, England fans can be encouraged but there is only so much a win against a side of Costa Rica’s standing will do to build faith before then. The only thing that will suffice in that respect is a winning start once the tournament is up and running.