OH SO CLOSE!
Lallana hits the post then Podolski’s screamer shatters Southgate
GARETH Southgate was full of praise for his England stars last night despite their defeat on a fairytale night for Lukas Podolski.
The Germany striker, making his 130th and final international appearance, smashed home a second-half rocket shot to ruin a promising night for England.
Adam Lallana hit a post and Dele Alli also had a great chance to score during an encouraging performance.
England impressed in a new 3-4-3 system against the world champions and manager Southgate said: ‘ It’s never nice to lose and I am not someone who is overly positive about things when you have been defeated, but I have to be really pleased with the way players have played individually.
‘And in terms of the tactical system, the way it worked, their ability to adapt quickly was excellent. Michael Keane
had an excellent debut and I think it is the perfect system for the likes of Adam Lallana and Dele Alli, who are both very intelligent players.’ But the evening was marred by sections of England fans who sang distasteful chants about the war just hours after the Westminster attacks had occurred in London. The Football Association will use Sunday’s match against Lithuania at Wembley to honour the victims of yesterday’s terror attack. Officials will meet to discuss how to mark the events in central London during the World Cup qualifier. In a statement, FA chairman Greg Clarke said: ‘Our thoughts are with all those affected by this terrible incident. ‘We will be recognising the bravery of of the security services and all those involved during the England versus Lithuania match on Sunday.’ Southgate added: ‘One of the key characteristics of us as a nation is that we carry on in moments like this and we don’t allow people to put us off what we want to do on a day-to- day basis and how we go about our working lives. ‘London, in particular, has displayed that before and we wanted to put on a performance that had the passion and the desire which reflected that.’ Reflecting on the chanting at the match, Southgate said: ‘To be honest I didn’t hear what was said, but it has been mentioned to me. ‘The travelling support in terms of numbers and the way they backed the team is brilliant and we would encourage them do that in the right way at all times.’