DEADLY SOLANKE READY TO STEP UP
MUCH more of this and Gareth Southgate will, to his great delight, find himself managing England’s Under 21s once again.
Having elevated Joe Gomez, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Tammy Abraham from Aidy Boothroyd’s squad, the England head coach will be compelled to cherry-pick a few more after he watches the footage of the young lions’ 2-0 victory in their Euro 2019 qualifier against Ukraine.
Dominic Solanke — scorer of the first goal in a win that puts England firmly on course for Euro 2019 — is likely to join Manchester City keeper Angus Gunn in the senior squad to face Brazil on Tuesday, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Demarai Gray also expected to get the call from Southgate in the next 24 hours.
Southgate will also see how Everton defender Jonjoe Kenny and Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook pushed their claims with meticulous displays that ensured England tightened their grip on first place on Group 4.
It was Liverpool striker Solanke, though, who really caught the eye on an unforgiving pitch, his strength and power always providing England with an outlet as they weathered a storm and extended their unbeaten run in qualifying matches to 30 games — a run that spans six years.
Boothroyd was effusive in his praise of Solanke. ‘Dom was excellent,’ said the England Under 21 boss. ‘He isn’t getting as many minutes (for Liverpool) as he or we would like at the minute, but he’s a player who always looks like scoring for us. He showed what he’s about and caused them lots of problems. He only came off as he was running out of steam.’
By the time Solanke’s race was run — his goal was a peach, a rightfooted drive that zipped into the corner of the net — England were well in control.
The decisive second goal arrived in the 62nd minute when Solanke fed Gray and his cross was clumsily turned in by Pavlo Lukianchuk for an own goal.
This, though, showed England’s determination more than artistry. It needed the contributions of Cook, Kenny — who headed and kicked every ball that came his way — Gunn and Nottingham Forest defender Joe Worrall to subdue the hosts.
The man causing most mischief for Ukraine was Oleksandr Zinchenko, last seen playing as a left back for Manchester City in the Carabao Cup against Wolves. Here, restored to a more natural No 10 role, he was a pest in yellow, buzzing around and threatening to cause havoc. But aside from one dipping volley that fizzed past the post in the 36th minute, England stuck to their guns admirably to leave Boothroyd delighted.
‘I thought it was a difficult game, our hardest in the group so far — it was really tough, right from the start. We had to be very wary,’ said Boothroyd, who received a ‘well done’ message from Southgate when he switched his phone on after the game.
‘ Ukraine showed they were unbeaten for a reason, but I thought we had a little bit more quality and a bit more luck. This win has given us a bit of breathing space.’
And it has given Southgate, more than anyone, much to think about.