Mike Hewitt
Really, England and Ireland, you can go back to not playing for another 18 years. It's cool.
England
and Ireland produced a pair of goals, but not a ton of action in their
first meeting since 1995. The goals were well made and taken, and much
more reflective of the skill of the attacking players than anything the
defenders did wrong, but the second half in particular was slow as the
teams coasted to a 1-1 draw.
Ireland's goal came out of nothing in the 13th minute. Seamus Coleman,
picking up a short pass on the right flank, took a step inside and
delivered a beautiful in-swinging cross towards the center of the
penalty area. Shane Long
made an excellent run between the two England center backs, and even
though they recovered well, he got a great touch on the ball with his
head to direct past Joe Hart at the far post.
Frank Lampard
hit back for England 10 minutes later, scoring one of his trademark
poacher's efforts on a late run from midfield. Danny Sturridge set up
the goal by holding up the ball in the box, waiting for a run from a
teammate and then chipping the ball towards Lampard, who finished
comfortably.
Not long after the goal, Sturridge picked up an injury and was replaced by Jermain Defoe. Liverpool manager Brendan Rogers will be hoping it was merely a knock, and nothing serious.
The substitutions were the biggest things of note after the goals. Ben Foster and Phil Jones replaced Joe Hart and Glen Johnson at halftime, while Ashley Cole exited the first game he captained for England in his career in the 54th minute, making way for Leighton Baines.
Ireland came close to an
equalizer in the 79th minute and might have had it with a bit more
awareness from Long. Foster fumbled what looked like an easy claim,
allowing the ball to fall to Jonathan Walters, but the flag went up for
offside on Long, who was standing on the goal line. England pushed
forward in the final 10 minutes and had a couple of half-chances, but
nothing terribly threatening.
没有评论:
发表评论