England rise to the occasion at Wembley

LONDON: England fans joined their French counterparts in roaring out a spinetingling rendition of the visitors’ Marseillaise national anthem before their football friendly, which the hosts won 2-0 at Wembley last night.

The supporters also impeccably observed a minute’s silence to honour the victims of the Paris attacks on Friday ahead of a match that will be remembered for the symbolic nature of the occasion.

After France appeared to settle first, England held the upper hand and took a grip on the game with goals from man-of-the-match Dele Alli and Wayne Rooney.

Young midfielder Alli, making his first start for England, blasted the ball past his Tottenham club goalkeeper and France skipper Hugo Lloris for his first international goal after 39 minutes.

Rooney, playing in a deeplying role, doubled England’s lead in the 48th minute after Alli found Raheem Sterling, who crossed for Rooney to volley home his 51st international goal.

England had not beaten France in six meetings since 1997, but the visitors never made it easy on what was a difficult evening for their players.

The home crowd applauding France substitutes Lassana Diarra and Antoine Griezmann when they came on in the second half.

A cousin of Diarra’s was killed in Friday’s attacks, while Griezmann’s sister was at the Bataclan where 89 people lost their lives.

There was hardly a foul during the game and afterwards the fans and the England team roundly applauded the France players. – Reuters