Ref must be strong, says Harry Kane
England captain Harry Kane said the referee “bottled” awarding his side a late equaliser in their Nations League loss to Spain.
Danny Welbeck thought he had levelled for the hosts deep into nine minutes of added time, but the goal was ruled out for a foul on goalkeeper David de Gea. Goals from Saul Niguez and Rodrigo gave Spain the 2-1 win after Marcus Rashford had opened the scoring at Wembley.
“In big moments you need the referee to stay strong,” Kane told Sky Sports.
“In the big moments you need a firm referee who doesn’t get decisions wrong under pressure. “Danny Welbeck stood there, De Gea went up, he caught the ball but as he went down he fell on Danny, no foul or anything, and the ball dropped. The referee bottled it.”
England manager Gareth Southgate also felt Welbeck’s effort should have stood. “Their two centre-backs came together to block Danny,” he said. “It is clear he stands there and De Gea goes over the top and drops the ball. Everyone can see it should be a goal.”
England’s first game since they reached the last four of this summer’s World Cup began well, with Rashford finishing off a superb pass from Manchester United club-mate Luke Shaw. However, Spain struck back almost immediately, with Saul firing in the equaliser two minutes later before Rodrigo took advantage of a static England defence to poke in following a free-kick. But England left the field feeling aggrieved after Welbeck’s strike was ruled out by Dutch official Danny Makkelie. That came at the end of the nine extra minutes, which were added as a result of treatment for a head injury suffered by Shaw. Southgate confirmed that the left-back was conscious and talking in the changing room and will continue to be assessed.
RESULTS
Northern Ireland 1-2 HerzeBos, Switzerland 6-0 Iceland, England 1-2 Spain, Finland 1-0 Hungary, Belarus 5-0 San Marino, Estonia 0-1 Greece, Luxembourg 4-1 Moldova.