WEMBLEY STADIUM

Lingard’s eight Premier League goals and four assists this season.

That compares to Alli’s six Premier League goals and nine assists.

Whichever way you look at it, the pair have been closely matched this season.

Again, it is not necessarily comparing like with like, but the performances of Lingard, Sterling and Liverpool’s Oxlade-chamberlain against Holland and now Italy suggest they are in the boxseats for starting positions at the World Cup. How Alli reacts will be telling.

There is no hint that Southgate is anything other than happy with his attitude but this is a fresh challenge in Alli’s short but gilded career. In the meantime, it was Sterling and Lingard who felt the love Raheem had asked for.

The class of Lingard’s performance was not limited to the sharply-taken free-kick that freed Vardy. An awareness and intelligence underscored his contribution and earned the applause as he left the field well ahead of the VAR decision that allowed Lorenzo Insigne to earn Italy a draw from the penalty spot.

When United fans had their doubts as he came through the Old Trafford ranks, Sir Alex Ferguson always insisted, in typically belligerent fashion, that Lingard would mature into a class act in his mid-20s.

Southgate clearly felt the same.

MAKE MY NIGHT Scorer Vardy thanks goal-maker Lingard, & Lallana (below) came back SIDELINED Dele Alli was denied the chance to impress as he was left on the bench