'Some nice moments out there'

Written by:

Paul Martin

England boss Gareth Southgate and goalscorer Tammy Abraham assess the win over Andorra

England boss Gareth Southgate was pleased with the way his team went about their business in Saturday’s win over Andorra.

The Three Lions clocked up a 5-0 victory in the Pyrenees to take another step closer to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

First-half goals from Ben Chilwell and Bukayo Saka got England on their way before Tammy Abraham, James Ward-Prowse and Jack Grealish added extra gloss after the break.

And the manager felt his men managed the fixture particularly well, against a physical team on their own patch.

“I was pleased with the way the team went about the game,” said Southgate.

“It’s a very specific sort of challenge, with a low packed defence to break down. We picked a team with players in it who could take that challenge on and you saw that with the link play, from midfield especially, and the application throughout was excellent.”

🔙 with the #ThreeLions.
🔙 in the goals.

👏 @tammyabraham pic.twitter.com/xJn5VJ4gEK
— England (@England) October 9, 2021

While he didn’t get on the scoresheet himself, midfielder Phil Foden was among the pick of the performers and played a role in the team’s display.

“It was very much, can we get between the lines? Could we get wide in one against one situations? Those diagonal runs in behind were a real threat.

“We know [against] those types of defences and those diagonal runs from wide, we know Phil [Foden] can hit them, as can Prowsey and Ben made them [the runs] throughout the game.

“There were some nice moments there, really. For Chilly (Ben Chilwell) to get a goal after having such a tough time in the summer with us, I’m really pleased for him and of course Jack’s first goal as well.

“Tammy, Prowsey, Bukayo, they are all players who haven’t scored that often for England, so it’s a special moment for all of them.”

Tammy Abraham had a good night in front of goal in Andorra

And Abraham colluded with that assessment, after sealing his return to the squad with another international goal added to his tally.

“It was a good night for us,” said the AS Roma striker.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, we had to stay focused and luckily we got the early goal.

“We knew we’d create chances and some of the things we’ve done tonight, that’s the positives we want going forward.”

His goal came early in the second half, when he got on the end of a cross from his fellow south Londoner Jadon Sancho.

“He told me at half time that sometimes he was going to cut back on to his right foot and try and find me in the middle of the goal so I should be ready,” revealed the former Chelsea man, who has been in good form since making his move to Italy earlier this summer.

“I was ready that time and got a good toe on to the ball.

“It shows I’m doing the right things and hopefully this is just the start. Hopefully I can keep going and keep pushing.

“For me, of course I was disappointed to miss out [in the summer], but I’m playing every week now and hopefully I can keep performing.

“It’s a tough squad to get into and hopefully I can remain here.”

The Three Lions squad will now return to England on Sunday, to begin their preparations for Tuesday's game with Hungary at Wembley Stadium.

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