England crushed Moldova at Wembley, Have a game with the fate of Ukraine in Kiev on Tuesday but Danny Welbeck isnt play.
Yet while a routine victory over benevolent opponents stuck to the prescribed script, Roy Hodgson’s thunderous demeanour on the touchline betrayed how not everything about this contest passed as serenely as he would have wished.
Long before the final whistle put Moldova out of their misery, Hodgson’s mind was whirling about the altogether more arduous test that awaits his team in Kiev on Tuesday night and the fact he must head to the Ukraine without another striker.
Two well-taken goals from Danny Welbeck added gloss to a scoreline which barely reflected England’s superiority, but followed a ridiculously harsh booking for the Manchester United forward which means he will be sat on his sofa instead of rampaging around the Olympic Stadium.
Hodgson was left incandescent by the decision of Slovakian referee Ivan Kruzliak, who adjudged Welbeck had purposely kicked the ball away after being ruled offside, and was still berating the fourth official when the same player struck the first of his brace on the stroke of half-time to settle this affair.
Even the sight of England finishing the night back on top of Group H after Montenegro’s stalemate with Poland will have only marginally improved the coach’s mood.
The outlook at the summit has the potential to be so changeable over the coming games that Welbeck’s absence, with Wayne Rooney already out bloodied and bruised and Daniel Sturridge facing a fitness test on Sunday, feels tantamount to a serious setback.
He is likely to be replaced by James Milner (Ashley Young is an alternative) in the starting line-up for a fixture that will be as far removed from what confronted England here as could possibly be imagined, although Ukraine’s 9-0 victory over San Marino also represented a preamble to the main event.
Yet Milner showed when scooping man-of-the-match Steven Gerrard’s free-kick over from six yards in the final seconds that he simply does not carry the same threat as Welbeck, who has now scored six goals in his last seven appearances.
And so when England withdrew Rickie Lambert after 70 minutes, it was purely to protect the fitness of the Southampton striker, whose rapid acclimatisation to this rarefied level continues to catch the eye as he scored England’s second goal and also conjured two assists.
That the evening should contain such a cruel distraction veered wildly from the course set by Gerrard’s first international goal for three years, a surprising statistic which does not acknowledge the assists he has provided during the same period.
A stunning strike from 25 yards was reminiscent of his goal in the 5-1 mauling against Germany in 2001 and came from a Frank Lampard pass after the persistence – and bravery – of Ashley Cole had set Welbeck free down the left.
Lampard to Gerrard: it will never work. And yet the statistics reveal that of Gerrard’s 20 goals for his country, 15 have now come in 57 starts alongside the Chelsea midfielder.
The decision to play them in midfield for the first time in a year was not simply due to the wealth of experience they boast – Lampard will follow his captain by becoming England’s latest centurion against the Ukraine – but also their knack of scoring when it matters.
Gerrard’s contribution, not just his strike but his coolness in possession, served to highlight the strides Jack Wilshere must still make if the prophecies marking him out as England’s saviour are to be fulfilled.
The home rearguard that was not asked to break sweat here will know it will be more seriously tested in four days’ time when the need to be clinical is paramount.
If the onus falls on Lambert, then Hodgson will be buoyed by his assured display.
Having scored with his first touch against Scotland last month, he took rather more before becoming the first England player since Peter Taylor 37 years ago to score on his first two appearances for the Three Lions.
Theo Walcott’s rasping shot was pushed away unconvincingly by Moldova goalkeeper Stanislav Namasco and Lambert headed home from two yards.
From goalscorer, he then turned creator, Welbeck gambling correctly on beating Namasco to an angled through ball and rolling into an empty net before clipping a deft pass home in the 50th minute.
Ross Barkley, the Everton teenager, replaced Wilshere to continue his rise to prominence in the second half and shot narrowly wide after linking well with Gerrard.
Yet with victory long since assured by then, Hodgson’s mind would have understandably been elsewhere.
England vs Moldova Match Stats
England: Hart, Walker, Cole (Baines 45), Cahill, Jagielka, Gerrard, Walcott, Lampard, Wilshere (Barkley 59), Welbeck, Lambert (Milner 70)
Subs not used: Ruddy, Forster, Smalling, Carrick, Cleverley, Young, Sterling, Townsend, Defoe
Goals: Gerrard 12, Lambert 26, Welbeck 45, 50
Booked: Welbeck.
Moldova: Namasco, Armas, Golovatenco, Epureanu, Bulgaru (Suvorov 57), Bordiyan, Ionita (Onica 19), Antoniuc, Dedov, Gheorghiev (Pascenco 84), Sidorenco
Subs not used: Pascenco, Cebanu, Racu, Boestean, Erhan, Cebotaru, Gheorghe Andronic, Doros, Grosu
Referee: Ivan Kruzliak (Slovakia).
Attendance: 61,607.
Man of The Match:Gerrard
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