Andorra vs England player ratings: Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho impress in World Cup qualifier

Andorra 0-5 England: Three points for the Three Lions after five different goalscorers

Karl Matchett
Saturday 09 October 2021 21:51 BST
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(AFP via Getty Images)

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England comfortably beat minnows Andorra on Saturday night to move ever-closer to the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Tammy Abraham and Ben Chilwell had early opportunities from crosses, with the opener taking just 18 minutes to come after a VAR check overruled an initial offside call against Jadon Sancho. He ran onto a lofted pass and laid it off for Chilwell, who hammered in the strike for his first goal for the senior side.

Phil Foden had played several defence-splitting passes in the first half and another of those set Bukayo Saka away to lash in a second just before the break. Sancho then claimed another assist on the hour mark as a cross was touched in by Abraham.

After a spate of substitutions, Jack Grealish was hauled down in the box and after James Ward-Prowse saw his penalty saved, the Southampton man reacted first to net the rebound. Grealish then netted himself to wrap up the game.

Here are the player ratings for England from their win over Andorra on Saturday night.

Sam Johnstone - 7. His first real involvement came about midway through the first half as he claimed a lofted ball into the box. As that suggests, it was a very easy evening for the ‘keeper. Made a good save late on, albeit from a very clearly offside shot, before throwing clear to assist the final goal.

Kieran Trippier - 7. A proud occasion for the Atletico full-back as he skippered the side. Wayward with a few passes but kept the width and pushed on when space opened up.

John Stones - 6. Passed out neatly when he didn’t look overly ambitious with long balls, dribbled into midfield at times. All very easy.

Conor Coady - 7. The talkative presence from the back line. Very rarely under any sort of pressure. Did take an elbow to the head to liven him up which went strangely unpunished.

Ben Chilwell - 8. Very high as often as he could - almost scored the opener twice in the first 12 minutes before finally opening his international account. Defended well against the infrequent counters down his side.

James Ward-Prowse - 7. Basically manned the deeper areas of midfield alone. Did it easily as few runners were central for Andorra and had lots of runners ahead of him in both directions to redistribute to. A trickier second half as concentration appeared to drop but never in any real trouble. Missed a pen, scored the rebound.

Phil Foden - 9. Found his range early on with his passing, firing balls over the defence from all over the pitch. Beautiful lofted ball for Saka’s goal exemplified how he was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch.

Bukayo Saka - 7. Relatively quiet in the first half with most of the play down the other side of the pitch, but took his goal brilliantly.

Jesse Lingard - 6. Not much space centrally so spent a lot of time making runs that went unrewarded. A frustrating outing for him.

Jadon Sancho - 8. Two good crosses before his clever run beat the offside trap - on a second inspection - to set up the opener. His delivery was spot-on in the first half and he was always willing to run at defenders. Needless booking and arguments with the home players at the break.

Tammy Abraham - 7. Couldn’t control the ball when the first chance fell his way, then denied by the keeper twice soon after. Finally found the net with a poacher’s effort on the hour.

Substitutes:

Fikayo Tomori - 7. A nice half-hour run-out where he showed his defensive ability and pace.

Jack Grealish - 7. Predictably fouled plenty. One was for the spot-kick. Scored his first England goal late on.

Mason Mount - 7. Neat link play, lots of running in his time on the pitch.

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