Gareth Southgate hails England's spectacular front-three as they silence their critics
England produced a defining performance under Gareth Southgate to clinch a 3-2 victory over Spain in Seville
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Your support makes all the difference.Gareth Southgate heaped praise on England’s lethal attacking trio as their clinical performance quashed previous critics during England’s 3-2 victory over Spain.
Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling had all come under question after misfiring on more than one occasion in Southgate’s post-World Cup reign but weaved in between Spain’s frayed defenders at will on a wet Monday in Seville.
“We talked about the threat our front three have, but they need to believe in themselves and we need to get the ball to them," Southgate said after the match. "You have to get the first couple of passes out of their press spot on. We ran the risk of losing the ball near our goal, but we were a huge threat on the counter-attack. The quality of the play and bravery of the play were wonderful.”
Sterling bagged a brace after an 1102 day international drought, Marcus Rashford prodded home past David De Gea for England’s second and Harry Kane turned hold-up extraordinaire to add two assists although he will have been disappointed not to snatch a goal for himself.
“All three of them have understandably had questions asked, and all three responded with really top performances. We were able to play off them. They retained the ball well for us and allowed us to build. Their speed was an obvious threat, but the quality of their passes and finishing was top quality. For a team to play the way that we did was a great reference point for the future.”
It was a defining night in the Southgate era. At times in the first half, England tortured Spain with tiki-taka play of their own – 17 passes were played in the buildup to Sterling’s opener. But it was also the old-fashioned ability to latch onto the long ball which undid their opponent’s uncharacteristically weak defence.
Sergio Ramos may have scored a consolation for his side with the last move of the game but he looked unusually weary when attempting to stifle the relentless speed of Sterling and Rashford. Far too often the gap between himself and Real Madrid partner Nacho became a corridor for England to exploit.
The win secured safety for England in the UEFA Nations League after many mooted a defeat which would have seen the Three Lions relegated to the second tier.
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