Clinical Kane finds scoring touch again
COMETH September, cometh the man. The clock ticked into the ninth month of the calendar year and Harry Kane’s scoring form returned. It is truly puzzling this barren spell August seems to cast on him. Then again, it does help to play Malta.
England made dreadfully hard work of such limited opposition, but there was a feeling of inevitability about the Kane goal that broke the deadlock. It was all in alignment for him. The date, the stars, and a team making up the numbers in England’s World Cup qualifying group.
The visit to Malta is not so much a contest, more a task to be ticked off. Get the three points, get on the plane, get home. England did that, eventually — but it was uninspiring stuff.
The first goal, fittingly, was a highlight. Dele Alli did well to keep the ball in his orbit and wait until the pass to Kane opened up. When it did, he slipped him in on the left, and his Tottenham team-mate gave goalkeeper Andrew Hogg no chance.
It was all England needed to maintain their grip on Group F, but it wasn’t much.
Indeed, after half-time, Malta came close with a couple of shots from captain Andre Schembri, and Samuel Magri, who most weeks can be found playing at the back for Ebbsfleet United.
That goes to show the level England were up against, putting the scoreline and some of the more mediocre individual performances into perspective.
Raheem Sterling, for instance, was replaced at half-time by Marcus Rashford, the uncertainty of the past week seeming to take a greater toll on him than it did Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
By the time 80 minutes came around, even the normally loyal away end was beginning to empty. A steady trickle of England fans deciding the chance of a cold pint on a warm Mediterranean evening was more fun than watching this to its conclusion. Those leaving early missed a late flourish — three goals in a six-minute spell to give England a margin of victory they barely deserved. The second came from substitute Ryan Bertrand, picking up the ball in space and finishing smartly. Then, as the game crept into stoppage-time, Kane lobbed the ball forward to be finished by Danny Welbeck as Hogg advanced frantically.
Finally, Kane added his second of the night, Malta now absent. Job done. Time to go home.
In the distance, beyond the South End of the Ta’ Qali National Stadium there was a local firework display, so at least most of the ground had something to watch. It wasn’t much of a firework display but then it didn’t have to be. The first 45 minutes was even less of match.
England had a huge amount of possession and all the scoring chances, but against a team that had shipped 29 goals in their last 10 internationals, they had forced one save of note from Hogg.
England had five noteworthy first-half chances, one of them an attempted clearance by defender Andrei Agius.
The game was two minutes old when Kane threaded the ball through to Sterling. He should have taken it early but delayed too long and was smothered before he could shoot.
No problem, there would be another one along in a minute. And so there was. Alli crossed and Kane met the ball with a powerful header, which Hogg did magnificently to keep out. At that moment, it appeared a matter of time before England scored, but as the game wore on, their imagination dwindled.
Jordan Henderson took a short corner which Alli turned into a neat one-two, England’s captain striking a low shot that Hogg was behind all the way.
Then, in the 11th minute, Henderson found Alli with a poorly struck pass, bobbling all the way, and the midfielder sent over the bar.
And that was it. From there, England did not manage a single chance before half-time, bar the Agius error. It was dreadful stuff, ponderous and lacking in ideas, lifted only by the odd individual who showed attacking ambition, such as Oxlade-Chamberlain. But he was the exception.
Part of the problem is that Southgate began with a horribly conservative set-up, a back four shielded by two defensive midfielders. Shielded from what, who knows? Malta had one crack at goal from range by Bjorn Kristensen after three minutes, but it went over the ball.
A few long balls over the top produced uncomfortable foot races and Joe Hart was forced to tear off his line to mop up from one, but what six of England’s outfield players had to be either backs or guards, only he knows.
Despite this win, England observers have all seen this film before and know how it ends.
England last lost a qualifier in 2009, and even that was a dead rubber in Ukraine having already won the group, but there was nothing here to suggest England can be serious contenders in Russia next summer. Still the second-half was better than the first. Well, the fireworks were, at least.