By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter
@Siwri88
A costly
yellow card for Manchester United’s Danny Welbeck has slightly marred a
convincing England victory on Friday night against a very weak Moldova side.
In Roy
Hodgson’s 19th game in charge of England, the Three Lions coasted to
a comfortable 4-0 victory against opponents who offered no threat all evening.
However it was
Welbeck’s yellow card that will be the main talking point. The striker, who did score twice, was
cautioned by an impatient Slovakian referee for kicking the ball away after
being flagged offside.
It was clear
from live play that Welbeck’s action came just over a second after the whistle
had blown for offside, making the punishment fairly harsh. However, surely knowing he was on a yellow
card already for a silly dive in Montenegro in March, he gave the referee a
decision to make and it proved to be a fatal kick.
The actions of
Welbeck mean he is now out of Tuesday night’s critical World Cup qualifier in
Kiev against a hungry Ukraine side who put nine goals past San Marino also this
evening.
It will put
more pressure on Rickie Lambert with Wayne Rooney definitely out and Daniel
Sturridge looking to be a major doubt for Tuesday’s test against the co-hosts
of last summer’s European championships.
Lambert
though is dealing with international football like a seasoned campaigner. The Southampton hitman scored again on his
full international debut and setup both of Welbeck’s efforts.
Captain
Steven Gerrard (pictured) got the ball rolling in the 12th minute. It was an early goal to settle any jitters
from a fairly passive Wembley crowd for a competitive match. Good link-up play between Ashley Cole and
Lambert on the left-hand side led to Frank Lampard feeding Gerrard to fire a
perfect shot into the bottom corner of the net. Amazingly it is the midfielder’s first
international strike in 18 matches.
Around a
quarter of an hour later, Lambert made it 2-0 from close range. Moldova had several opportunities to clear
from a corner but failed to do so with any conviction. Theo Walcott fizzed in a strike which
produced some fairly average goalkeeping from Sidorenco and Lambert was there
to poach another goal from no more than three yards out.
The job was
all but done by then, and any unlikely upset was eroded by half-time. Less than a minute after his questionable
booking, Welbeck took advantage of more vulnerable goalkeeping from a keeper
who frankly performed like a clown all evening.
The striker put aside his personal disappointment with his first of the
night with the last kick of the first half.
Welbeck said
to ITV after the game: “I’m very
disappointed to get the yellow card. I
thought I was onside, you can’t always hear the referee’s whistle. It was difficult to get my head around it
afterwards, but you’ve got to do the job for the team at the same time.”
Following a
sluggish opening five minutes of the second half, Manchester United man Welbeck
produced another lovely finish to make it 4-0.
A cool Lambert pass put him in and he dinked the ball over the advancing
goalkeeper to match the scoreline that was produced in 1997 when the teams met
at the old Wembley Stadium.
Jack Wilshere
got through an hour, and Ross Barkley made a cameo appearance for his senior
international debut as the game drifted towards a tepid conclusion.
It was job
done though for Hodgson’s men and a draw between Poland and Montenegro in
Warsaw takes England top of Group H. It
was mainly pleasing for the Three Lions, but Welbeck’s booking could have
massive consequences come Tuesday night.
FINAL RESULT:
England 4-0
Moldova
GOALSCORERS: Steven Gerrard 12, Rickie Lambert 26,
Danny Welbeck 45, 50
ENGLAND TEAM:
ENGLAND: Joe Hart, Kyle Walker, Gary Cahill,
Phil Jagielka, Ashley Cole (Leighton Baines 45), Steven Gerrard, Jack Wilshere
(Ross Barkley 61), Frank Lampard, Theo Walcott, Rickie Lambert (James Milner 69),
Danny Welbeck
Unused subs: John Ruddy, Fraser Forster, Chris
Smalling, Ashley Young, Andros Townsend, Michael Carrick, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain,
Tom Cleverley, Raheem Sterling, Jermain Defoe
Referee:
Kruzliak (Slovakia)
Attendance:
61,607
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