Perfect 10: England off to France with 100% record
Lithuania 0 England 3 Barkley 29, Arlauskis og 35, Oxlade-Chamberlain 62
Roy Hodgson has oft made clear his disregard of statistics but he will be quietly proud of the one that England achieved last night, a perfect 10 wins from 10 qualifying matches. The national manager will, though, know that when it comes to next summer’s European Championship, this statistic is no more relevant than his particular bugbear, the shots-on-target tally.
As it happens England threatened to break records for that too in an utterly onesided match that, but for Giedrius Arlauskis, Watford’s reserve goalkeeper, would have finished 8-0. Only Ross Barkley with a deflection, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain beat the inspired keeper, though in between he had the misfortune to have a Harry Kane shot go in off his back. Kane will claim the goal, but it was an own goal.
The only downside for England was the need for riot police to quell two disturbances involving a small band of travelling fans who had gained tickets for the home end and locals. More positively, concerns about the pitch appeared to be unfounded, with no sign of any injuries.
How good are England? It is not easy to tell from this qualifying campaign. Switzerland, beaten convincingly in Basel and competently at Wembley, were the only serious opposition in their group. While results in other groups have shown some lesser lights can be troublesome, England, for the most part, have not had much to beat.
This match was typical. That Lithuania still had a theoretical chance of qualifying at kick-off underlined how weak this group was. Arlauskis was the only member of the Lithuanian side on the books of a team in a major European league. The rest were drawn from minor leagues such as those in Israel, Belgium and Poland, Bundesliga 2 and also from the country’s domestic competition, where £200 a week is a good wage.
For all the hand-wringing about the lack of English players in the top flight Hodgson could have picked any 11 from the 60-odd who regularly play in the Premier League and been confident of winning. He settled for making eight changes from the XI who defeated Estonia 2-0 at Wembley on Friday, with only Barkley, Adam Lallana and Kane retaining their places. This meant opportunity knocked for fringe players such as Jamie Vardy, Kieran Gibbs and Jonjo Shelvey, who played at the base of the midfield.
Jack Butland and Kyle Walker became the 31st and 32nd players to represent England in this campaign, more than most clubs use in a Premier League season. Injuries have been the main reason, plus Hodgson’s desire to use the qualifiers to assess new blood so he can use the coming friendlies to fine-tune his side. Indeed – as if to highlight the injury problems – a 33rd player, Daniel Sturridge, a first choice at the World Cup, has not played for England since September 2014.
This was England’s 100th European Championship qualifying tie. Few of the previous 99 will have been played in such a modest venue but England immediately showed they had no problem motivating themselves, also putting aside any concern over the plastic pitch as they began bristling with intent. Kane brought three sharp saves from Arlauskis in the opening quarter.
The match had adopted a familiar pattern, with Lithuania putting everyone behind the ball and England probing. Vardy and OxladeChamberlain stayed wide to stretch the defence, Phil Jagielka and Phil Jones regularly stepped into midfield, and Lallana and Barkley attempted to thread passes through the yellow-shirted wall.
A packed defence is not easy to penetrate, but there is always the risk of deflection
That Lithuania still had a theoretical chance of qualifying underlined how weak this group was
We need to keep pushing forward. I have to rattle a few cages
when there is a mass of bodies in front of the goalkeeper. So it proved as a Barkley shot from just outside the area struck Tomas Mikuckis and went in off the post.
The goal prompted a fresh outbreak of trouble on the terraces as local ultras reacted badly to England fans’ celebratory taunts. The riot police, who had stepped in after early skirmishes, responded by spraying the home fans with hand-held cans of liquid. A better response came from Lukas Spalvis, who gave Butland the chance to make a save with a shot from range.
Within minutes, however, the contest was effectively over as Kane played a neat onetwo with Lallana then drove in a shot that beat Arlauskis, rebounded back off the post and went in off the keeper.
The pattern of the game remained unchanged after the break, with Lithuania seemingly content to keep the score down. That it remained respectable was largely due to Arlauskis, who made two excellent saves to deny Kane, from an Oxlade-Chamberlain cross, then Barkley’s header from the subsequent corner.
The keeper had no chance, however, just after the hour when Oxlade-Chamberlain was released byWalker to bear down on him and thrash the ball into the roof of the net.
A few minutes earlier, Kane had made way as Hodgson gave Danny Ings his debut. The Liverpool striker filled Kane’s role as centre-forward with Vardy remaining wide left. Dele Alli was next to be given a chance to shine, the Tottenham midfielder replacing Lallana.
With Arlauskis denying Ings from a snap-shot, England did not add to another impressive statistic, 31 goals scored to three conceded. That will also count for nothing come June, but England have earned the right to savour their flawless campaign.