MAGUIRE IN
Late strike gets Stones off the hook for mistake
WHAT are mates all?
Just when John Stones’ blunder seemed about to send England into the summer with their chins on their chests, up steps Harry Maguire to save the mood.
Only a defensive calamity of the highest order could have disrupted England from their stately progression through the triple header.
And Stones was the man to provide it, losing possession on the edge of his own area to give Poland a sight of a point that seemed unlikely the moment Raheen Sterling had decided to get involved.
He had picked up the ball on the touchline 35 yards from goal in just the 19th for, after minute and straightaway you sensed how his run was going to end.
If he were a racehorse, the ears would have been pricked forward; certainly the blinkers were on. He was headed into the penalty area as fast as he could.
Grzegorz Krychowiak could not trip him outside the box. Michal Helik of Barnsley did catch him, just as it looked as though Sterling had overrun the ball.
Just because you knew it was always in the back of his mind does not make it cheating – there was contact, and valuable contact, too, in what was always going to be a tight battle for goals.
The conversion was just as inevitable as the penalty award. Kane waited for former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to dive, then planted the ball right where his nose had been moments before.
Seven minutes later, Sterling was dashing into the box again – this time with nobody to foul him. He dithered, and a great chance for a second was wasted. His third mazy run was ended by a solid and legitimate tackle.
For all the sense he is not quite where he was formwise earlier this season, he still has that individual magic which makes things happen.
England were better, though, when the ball did the work. Phil Foden’s flick from Mason Mount’s pass was
perfect to give Kane a shot from 20 yards, which Szczesny did well to keep out.
The understanding between Ben Chilwell and Mount on the left was the most potent weapon for manager Gareth Southgate, right, but as the second half meandered on it all became too comfortable.
Then just as the unease was growing that England were spurning too many chances to kill off the game, it happened again. And it happened to Stones. Quite simply, the Manchester City defender dwelt too long on the ball,
Jakub Moder nicked it off him, played a swift one-two, then shot hard and true. The exposed Nick Pope had finally conceded as an England goalkeeper.
A poor back-pass from Stones moments earlier which Pope did well to scramble to safety should have served as a warning that things were about to unravel. Or the handball call against Maguire that might have gone against him withVAR. Now the alarm bells were ringing as loudly as the energised Poland camp’s cheering and England had half an hour to find a response. Even with a squad decimated with Covid and their inspirational star Robert Lewandowski injured, the visitors were determined not to let England in again.
However, what Southgate’s centre-backs can give away so easily, they can fight hard to win back.
Stones strained every sinew to keep the deep corner in play five minutes from time and nobody was more relieved than him when Maguire met it on the half-volley to drill the ball into the roof of the net.
So England march on to the Euro 2020 finals with the nine World Cup qualifying points they wanted.
And perhaps a well-timed reality check for us all.