The most goals Croatia had conceded in any previous home match was four.
asserted
Croatia → concede → match
England had five after 53 minutes and ploughed on, winning 7-0 in a ruthless Nations League victory that marks the Croatians’ heaviest-ever defeat.
asserted
that → have → defeat
In front of 100 “hardcore” England fans and 6,200 Croatian schoolchildren in a match officially played “behind closed doors” due to a UEFA sanction against their hosts, all four members of England’s scintillating front four scored in the first half, and there were a further three strikes to come after the interval.
asserted
members → play → interval
Barnstorming win against big rivals
It was England’s tenth game against Croatia since 2004 and their sixth since 2018, and this meeting brought more familiar foes than some of those fixtures - Bilic back in charge, having twice beaten Steve McClaren’s England and twice lost to Fabio Capello’s England before 2010.
The Three Lions had no time for sentimentality.
asserted
Lions → bring → sentimentality
They made Croatia look like “a Gibraltar-type team”, Roy Keane said on punditry for ITV after the game.
asserted
Keane → make → game
It was hard to disagree.
asserted
It → disagree → ?
Croatia were so poor, making horrific errors that culminated in Josip Stanisic’s awful square ball right into Bukayo Saka to score.
asserted
that → make → Saka
It was their finest performance under Tuchel and a show of the attacking quality they have to rival the very best teams in the world.
asserted
they → have → world
Saka scored twice, Harry Kane also helped himself to a brace, and Jude Bellingham tallied a goal and three assists.
asserted
Bellingham → score → goal
The Real Madrid star was comfortably the best player on the pitch and keeps finding a new highest level to top his last.
asserted
star → find → last
Anthony Gordon, with a smart header, and late substitute Morgan Rogers, with a skilful solo counter-attack, also found the net in a sensational victory.
asserted
Gordon → find → victory
On paper, it looked a mismatch in midfield.
asserted
it → look → midfield
Elliot Anderson and - on his second cap and first start - Alex Scott had just 20 caps between them.
asserted
Anderson → have → them
The midfield they were up against of Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic had 323, by sharp contrast.
asserted
they → have → contrast
But men against boys it was not, and if anything it was England’s double pivot that gave Croatia’s a lesson in control, counter-pressing and how to run a game from the middle of the park.
asserted
that → give → park
“It was hard work in midfield,” said Scott, “But that’s what we’re best at: being intense.”
asserted
we → say → what
Scott skipped past Kovacic for the opener, scored by Kane, and Anderson was electric, bombing forward to assist Kane’s second goal but also giving Croatia no time on the ball.
asserted
Anderson → skip → ball
A fantastic pass to the wily Ivan Perisic from outside of the boot was the extent of Modric’s threat going forward.
asserted
pass → go → threat
For what felt like the first time, he truly looked like a player in his 40s.
asserted
he → feel → 40s
Saka stars at just the right time
Coming into the game, it felt an important evening for Bukayo Saka and a match in which he needed to show something extra-special.
asserted
he → star → -
The Arsenal man had been a frustrating watch four days earlier against the Czech Republic and put in one of England’s most disappointing individual performances in Prague.
asserted
man → put → Prague
Saka regularly made shrewd decisions as England purred on the Adriatic.
asserted
England → make → Adriatic
The second goal of the game was scored by Bellingham and assisted by Gordon but owed so much to the glance up and gliding ball that Saka played over the top for the Barcelona winger to pluck from the sky and deliver to Bellingham.
asserted
winger → score → Bellingham
Right on half time, Saka was in the right place to convert from close range from a Bellingham cross and he obliged after the interval as Kane unselfishly laid off.
asserted
Kane → convert → interval
Read More
It could and should have even been a hat trick and a 20th international goal for the 25-year-old when Bellingham drove the ball across the danger area.
uncertain
Bellingham → read → area
Saka got it all wrong, slashing over from very close range.
asserted
it → get → range
Luckily it mattered not, in part because of his own fine work earlier in the game.
asserted
it → matter → game
He reminded Tuchel why he is England’s clear first-choice on the right flank, on a night when England reminded us why they are one of the very best teams around.
asserted
they → remind → teams
The Aporia
