Cole Palmer and Trent Alexander-Arnold provided some light amidst England‘s fog on the Tyne – to secure their place on the plane to Euro 2024.
If there had been doubts these two might not make it to Germany, there won’t be now. The decisive duo were two of the few Three Lions to roar against a Bosnia side so mediocre, they haven’t even qualified for the finals this summer.
Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi also did their chances no harm. But Palmer and Alexander-Arnold might as well start packing their bags now, after scoring second-half goals to secure an otherwise underwhelming win that left boss Gareth Southgate with more questions than answers.
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With the exception of one or two, Southgate had named what was essentially a second team. Injuries in defence forced Southgate’s hand and he named Ezri Konsa at right-back, while Lewis Dunk and Marc Guehi made up the centre-back paring.
Kieran Trippier, who prefers to operate at right-back, played left-back and captained the Three Lions on his home ground. What felt more exciting was the fact both Palmer and Eberechi Eze made their first starts.
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While Alexander-Arnold started in midfield, and Ollie Watkins led the attack in the absence of the injured Harry Kane. This summer’s night on Tyneside wasn’t about those big names who didn’t start.
It was all about how the likes of Alexander-Arnold, Watkins, Eze and Conor Gallagher would cope with their audition. Alexander-Arnold almost picked out Watkins with one of those laser-like passes of his in the opening two minutes.
But he did locate Eze with a similar ball moments later, which led to a free kick in a dangerous position for England. It led to nothing, but the Liverpool star had made a bright start.
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And it’s sometimes hard to believe that this was just his 24th cap at the age of 25. He was like a magnet for the ball and had a hand in the first big chance, when he combined with Palmer to release Watkins, who saw his angled shot was wasted.
Eze also looked eager to impress, and his quicksilver feet left Armin Gigovic for dead which eventually led to a shooting chance for Gallagher, who failed to hit the target. Eze then went on a weaving run which took him past three defenders.
Konsa missed a golden chance to open the scoring when a loose ball from a corner fell to him inside the box. Southgate had said in the build up that his players didn’t need to be perfect in the game to impress him.
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And most of them were holding him to his word – because it all felt a bit flat. Haris Hajradinovic flashed a shot wide for the visitors, to remind England there was a game on.
Jarrod Bowen tried to lift the tedium at the opposite end, but shot straight at Vasilj, while Watkins blew another chance to end the stalemate. Alexander-Arnold and Palmer combined again for the latter to test Vasilj.
But England were faced with a problem they will have to solve at the Euros – breaking defensive teams down. And few answers were being provided.
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Until Benjamin Tahirovic decided to pull down Konsa in the box and gift England a penalty, which Palmer dispatched. Then Southgate rang the changes, making five in one go, which included handing debuts to Adam Wharton and Jarrad Branthwaite.
Another substitute, Kane, did what he does best and scored from close range. But the best moment belonged to Alexander-Arnold, who volleyed Jack Grealish’s cross back across goal and into the far corner. All Southgate needs to work out now is, how to get him into the starting XI.