Netherlands 0-1 England: Jesse Lingard scores only goal of the game in England's World Cup warm-up in Amsterdam
Jesse Lingard's first goal for England proved to be the winner as Gareth Southgate's men beat the Netherlands 1-0 in Amsterdam.
Lingard struck in the 59th minute to cap off a promising performance for Southgate's new-look side as they kept a third consecutive clean sheet against quality opposition.
Southgate sprung a shock before the game with his team selection when deploying Kyle Walker as one of his three centre backs, but the defensive line was largely comfortable throughout.
Producing a cutting edge has been England's main failure in recent games, but although chances were again not free-flowing, Lingard provided a clinical edge in dispatching his only chance to win the game.
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Southgate's plans took an early blow when another of the three centre halves, Liverpool’s Joe Gomez, was forced off through injury and was replaced by Harry Maguire.
England’s defence was hardly tested in the first half as they contained the Dutch with ease with some high-tempo pressing providing control in midfield.
🙌 @JesseLingard strokes home for his first @England international goal pic.twitter.com/aVlVqZ1CDl
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 23, 2018
In possession, they moved the ball quickly and switched play well, but all the promise led to nothing as the cutting edge was desperately lacking – Jordan Henderson went closest with a flicked header from a free kick.
The second half was only marginally better in the opening stages – Marcus Rashford has a strong case for a penalty when he went down under Matthijs De Light’s challenge but his appeals were waved away.
The Netherlands had more attacking intent but they fell behind just before the hour mark when Lingard latched onto a loose ball at the edge of the box and curled an effort beyond Jeroen Zoet despite the keeper getting a hand on the ball.
The hosts upped their game after the goal but failed to trouble Jordan Pickford, while England threatened on the break, Trippier forcing a smart stop from Zoet with a fierce drive inside the final ten minutes.
Reaction - Southgate keen on three-man defence
The England manager seemed to signal that three at the back was his favoured formation going forward after being plsed with the control it offered his players.
"I thought it was a good test for us, away from home we controlled the game and used the ball really well especially the first 65 minutes," Southgate told ITV.
"Maye a little more quality in the final third was required but I was really pleased with the way we played and defensively we looked really solid.
"I think the back three and goalkeeper were excellent, the way they were able to play out from the back and played with real composure. We’re going to have to get used to them taking risks in those areas of the pitch as that’s how we want them to play.
"I thought they played with intelligence as well as composure.
"The defenders and goalkeeper are all capable of using the ball well and we were able to work the game out to keep the ball higher up the pitch."
"So for us it was a relly good exercise."
"When the ball dropped to Jesse, I knew that he would score"@England captain @JHenderson reacts to Lingard's winner pic.twitter.com/McAjC8HPbi
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 23, 2018
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