Southgate: Penalty was NOT clear and obvious

manager Southgate believes the official’s decision was unjustified. He said: ‘I’m glad it’s not the World Cup just yet. I think the ruling is “clear and obvious” and it’s not. It’s one you can debate all day. It looks like James stands on him but it’s during the running process and he’s going down anyway. ‘I think the referee had a good view already. I don’t think with incidents like that VAR will clear things up. An obvious handball and stuff like that then maybe. But we have to get on with it.’ Tarkowski added: ‘I stood on his foot but I didn’t think a lot of it. It’s never a penalty. It would have been nice to have two wins but there’s a lot of positives. I’m not going to complain. It’s been a great experience this week.’ Italy’s goal meant a disappointing end to an otherwise positive night. England dominated for much of the game, with Raheem Sterling in particular catching the eye. Southgate (right) said: ‘In the first five minutes we were very sloppy and gave the ball away in our penalty area but then we settled down and created more chances. Raheem Sterling, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jesse Lingard did well running from midfield and Jamie Vardy scored a really good goal.’ Kyle Walker continued in an unfamiliar role at centre back, having started there in Friday’s 1-0 win over Holland. Nevertheless, the right back looked more than comfortable in a back three and is emerging as a contender to play as a centre half at the World Cup. The Manchester City star said: ‘Centre back is a new position for me but I am confident playing there as I do virtually the same for City. I played there for England Under 19 and a bit for Sheffield United. As long as I’m on the plane, that’s all that matters.’ Vardy added: ‘We started off strongly but in the second half Italy started pushing on and had a few chances, so all in all I think it was a fair result. ‘The game showed that we could defend as a unit and we had chances in attack.’