There were
aspects of this performance that were not terribly progressive, but
progress it nevertheless remained. England are three points closer to
the World Cup in Brazil for a start, and the manner in which they beat
Moldova here was certainly encouraging.
Roy Hodgson will not get too excited, not when Moldova managed to prove that there are easy games at this level.
But the England
manager will be pleased with the fluency of England’s football, and
with the confidence and composure they displayed in possession. He will
be pleased, too, that the deployment of Tom Cleverley as a traditional
No 10, something he tried for the first time against Italy last month,
worked pretty well, as did the new system Hodgson has developed since
Euro 2012.
Spot on: Lampard blasts home his penalty kick to open the scoring in the Zimbru Stadium in Chisinau
Match facts
Moldova:
Namasco, Armas, Epureanu, Bulgaru, Golovatenco, Sergei Kovalchuk,
Sergei Kovalchuk, Gatcan, Onica, Suvorov (Dedov 46), Patras, Picusciac
(Sidorenco 76 (Ovseanicov - 85)).
Subs not used: Serghei Pascenco, Racu, Ovseanicov, Cebotaru, Bordiyan, Doros, Alexandru Pascenco, Ivanov, Alexeev, Negai.
Booked: Bulgaru
England:
Hart, Johnson, Lescott, Terry, Baines, Milner, Lampard, Cleverley,
Oxlade-Chamberlain (Walcott 58), Gerrard (Carrick 46), Defoe (Welbeck
68).
Subs not used: Ruddy, Walker, Bertrand, Cahill, Jagielka, Sturridge, Butland.
Goals; Lampard 3 pen, 29, Defoe 32, Milner 74, Baines 83.
Booked: Johnson
Referee: Paul van Boekel (Geboren)
Attendance: 10,250
Two wins in two games is a fine return after acknowledging that good old 4-4-2 has its limitations in the modern game.
Over the next
two years there still needs to be something of an overhaul. A team that
reunited Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in midfield and had Jermain
Defoe at the point of the attack does not look like a team that will be
taking South America by storm any time soon.
But Hodgson was
picking his side from a squad weakened significantly by injury and
those he asked to launch a new qualifying campaign did all that was
asked of them.
He was
delighted with Cleverley, a player who possesses the intelligence to
perform in the space behind the striker even if he will probably evolve
into Jack Wilshere’s midfield partner. But international football often
puts such demands on players and Cleverley was excellent in his first
competitive appearance. ‘If you’re asking me if I thought Cleverley did
well it’s a resounding yes,’ said Hodgson, and rightly so.
In fairness to
the older guard, they did well, too. After scoring the first two goals
Lampard has 25 for his country, taking him ahead of Sir Geoff Hurst, no
less. Defoe marked his 50th international appearance with England’s
third and James Milner added a fourth after the break. The fifth came
from a Leighton Baines free-kick that took a massive deflection off
Alexandru Gatcan.
All too easy: Lampard finds space in the penalty area to head England two goals to the good
All too easy: Lampard finds space in the penalty area to head England two goals to the good
Double trouble: Lampard wheels away after doubling England's advantage in Moldova
Gerrard was
superb in the midfield anchor role — every inch an England captain — and
had a hand in the first two goals. He was replaced by Michael Carrick
after 45 minutes, but only because Hodgson wanted to rest him ahead of
Tuesday's qualifier against Ukraine in the belief that the win here was
already in the bag.
There were
other positives. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is growing in stature on the
international stage and points, like Cleverley, to a bright future,
while Milner impressed on the opposite flank.
From England’s
defenders came an assured performance as well, albeit against opponents
who would do well to secure a place in an English League Two team.
Indeed, the only negative was John Terry’s injury.
Three and easy: Jermain Defoe cracks in England's third goal, beating Moldova's keeper at the near post
All smiles: Defoe celebrates his goal team-mates James Milner (left) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
The manager has
his first World Cup win and after eight games he has yet to lose in
normal or extra time. Not bad for a guy thrown in at the deep end
shortly before the European Championship.
Ukraine will
provide a sterner test at Wembley, and only then will Hodgson know if he
really is on to something with this 4-2-3-1 formation. But confidence
should be high, particularly when the players seem to understand
perfectly what is expected of them.
They even
overcame the challenge presented by a poor pitch, the sight of Hodgson
shaking his head while examining it before the game an indication of
what he thought. But this was Moldova. This was a team ranked 141st in
the world, a team that had won only two World Cup qualifiers in their
history and had not scored for a year.
Pick that out: James Milner (left) fired home his first competitive goal for England in the second half
All in a day's work: Manchester City midfielder Milner celebrates his strike in muted fashion
They had the
temerity to accuse England of being a long-ball team on the eve of the
match and the visitors responded by passing the ball through them from
the start.
The manner in
which they scored the first goal after less than four minutes was
evidence of that. Gerrard launched a rapidly executed counter-attack
that secured a penalty when Cleverley met a delivery from Milner with a
shot that struck Simeon Bulgaru on the arm. Referee Paulus van Boekel
pointed to the spot and Lampard converted England's 100th penalty with
ease.
England were
dominant, launching attack after attack. Defoe squandered a couple of
decent chances but by the 29th minute Lampard had doubled the advantage,
this time meeting a fine cross from Glen Johnson with an excellent
header. Again Gerrard had provided the key ball forward.
Five star: Leighton Baines wraps up the scoring with a deflected free-kick seven minutes from the end
Give him a big hand: Everton left-back Baines acknowledges his late strike against Moldova
A two-goal lead soon became three, Defoe scoring three minutes later thanks to a terrific run from Oxlade-Chamberlain.
With the
arrival of Carrick in Gerrard’s place there was a loss of momentum.
Gerrard had been England’s driving force in the first half and without
him they lacked a bit of that spark. Hodgson could see that and
responded by replacing Oxlade-Chamberlain with the fresh legs of Theo
Walcott. He sent on Danny Welbeck, too, for Defoe.
The changes
paid off, with Walcott and Welbeck playing a major part in England’s
fourth goal, scored in the 74th minute by Milner. Cleverley probably
should have had a shot himself, as should Walcott, but they opted to
keep passing across Moldova’s penalty area before Walcott invited Milner
to try his luck. A superb right-foot shot followed and Milner was
celebrating his first international goal in his 32nd appearance.
Early bath: England captain Steven Gerrard (centre) was taken off at half-time with the game won
Worth the trip: Lampard and Glen Johnson thank the travelling England fans for their support
Job done: England manager Roy Hodgson applauds his side's efforts during their 5-0 win
Moldova really
did have nothing to offer in response — not even after Terry had limped
off and left England to contest the final few minutes with 10 men.
By then,
however, Baines had sent in a free-kick that Gatcan diverted past his
own goalkeeper to complete England’s biggest away win since San Marino
in 1993 and their first five-goal romp on foreign soil since that
stunning 5-1 victory in Munich 11 years ago.
This was not quite as memorable. Nothing like as historic. It was easy, really, but it was a fine start all the same.
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