DEFOE AND DEFLATED
Jermain’s goal – 1,456 days after his last England strike – was a rare highlight as the Three Lions fell flat
THE fairytale comeback was at least something to remember from an all too familiar England performance. Jermain Defoe provided the headline, his return after three years in the international wilderness always destined to end with him scoring. That is simply what he does. It took Defoe 21 minutes to find the net and pose the question as to why a succession of England managers decided against a recall until now. The Sunderland striker will be 35 by the time next year’s World Cup comes around and, despite his age, is still the best bet to nick a goal in tight games when chances are few and far between. And that was the problem for England. Despite all Gareth Southgate’s hope and optimism for a bright new era, it needed a veteran to open up the game and put his team on course for victory. At times, it was painful to watch and there is only so much blame that can be can directed at Lithuania’s negative, defensive and often cynical approach. England were also sloppy, the pace of the match was slow, they did not force the issue enough and there was very little zip or invention about the display. Southgate, of course, will be happy just to have got the job done, another three points towards qualification but England so rarely – if ever – get fans off their seats. It was underwhelming and, no matter how many excuses, they did not look any great shakes against a team ranked 107th in the world by FIFA. Somehow England are 14th. That is the equivalent of Premier League against non-league. The Three Lions regularly raise expectations – as they did in Germany last week –and fall rather flat a few days later. Southgate desperately needs to iron out those inconsistencies but there were some positives, especially Defoe’s return and Adam Lallana’s emergence as England’s main man, the Liverpool midfielder (right) once
again shining brightly. The defence was fairly solid, and John Stones made a terrific goal-line clearance when a linesman failed to spot Vykintas Slivka was clearly offside as he came within a whisker of equalising in firsthalf stoppage time. Michael Keane did himself proud in central defence, both full-backs were good going forward, although Lithuania did their best to kick Dele Alli off the pitch and Linas Klimavicius was lucky not to be booked. Raheem Sterling started brightly, with Lallana’s sliderule pass putting in the Manchester City forward only for goalkeeper Ernestas Setkus to deny him by saving with his feet. England did not have much longer to wait. Sterling’s lightning pace took him down the left, he crossed and there was Defoe to gobble up an easy chance, firing into the roof of the net for his 15th goal of the season for club and country. That could have opened the floodgates. But Alex Oxladechamberlain was sloppy in midfield, even Sterling – letting a ball run out of touch – was clumsy and Lithuania were allowed back into the game. England were never really under the cosh but the let-off when Stones cleared from Slivka, and Joe Hart making a smart save in the second half, were reminders that Southgate’s men had not put away their opponents. Sterling should have scored two minutes after the restart when Ryan Bertrand’s cross found him at the back post but – under pressure from the visitors’ defence – he fluffed his lines with the goal gaping. Southgate threw on Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy to give the attack extra pace and fresh legs, even if it saw Sterling and Defoe withdrawn. Sure enough, Vardy delivered for England in the 67th minute, his goal giving Southgate and the team some much-needed breathing space. Kyle Walker drove forward from right-back, Lallana provided a lovely flick to Vardy and the Leicester striker opened up his body before making no mistake, beating Setkus with a composed finish. Perhaps Vardy had something to prove after Defoe got the nod ahead of him. Either way, England could finally relax, but they had made hard work of what should have been a straightforward win.