In the second match of the day in Group D, England and Scotland did not score goals, although they had a lot of chances to score. This draw in London with a lowly quoted rival, to put it mildly, did not strengthen the status of the British as one of the favorites of the championship, but practically brought them to the playoffs. To get there, the Scots now need a victory over the Croats.
The match between the two neighbors did not deceive in at least one thing. In the meetings between England and Scotland, fighting is always in abundance, and the one that took place within the framework of the current European Championship was no exception. It is exactly the case when they go out of their way to annoy the opponent.
At the same time, it seems logical to bet that the English team, which in the sense of sonority of names and results, of course, surpasses the Scottish one by the head, will still press, worked so-so. The first moment was just for the Scots: Che Adams was hitting from the penalty area, and the England national team was rescued by defender John Stones, substituted under the ball.
This episode was followed by not such a short segment, which could be considered a triumph of logic, the layouts built on it. It was about the same in terms of saturation, “verticality” of the game, the segment that the British gave at the beginning of the match with the Croats. He opened it with a corner, the rally of which suggested that coach Gareth Southgate does not devote a quarter of an hour to his classes. The British gave something out of the field of basketball. The same Stones jumped onto the canopy from behind the backs of his own players, as if they had put a tight screen on the opponents, and, it seems, at first he himself did not believe that the ball sent by his head to the goal for sure, without options, rested against the post.
After that, Raheem Sterling flashed. Dribbling into the lateral penalty line, he then fooled Scott McTominay by throwing the ball between his legs. And it was a subtly calculated pass: Sterling saw perfectly well how Mason Mount was running into him. Tom had to turn the ball into a corner, but he pushed it straight in front of him and past the goal.
The England national team created a couple more unpleasant moments for the Scots, and then it turned out that they, having suffered, are ready to level the game. Now there was no question of any advantage of the British in acuteness. The Scottish team, which corrected the composition after losing to the Czechs, looked rustic again, but now it was full of fortress. She was not going to acknowledge the superiority of the neighbors and began to rock the boat and shoot at the target herself. And one day I found myself quite close to the goal. Stephen O’Donnell’s blow was amazing in beauty – from half a flight, biting, to the gate – a dozen meters. At that moment, those people in the stands at Wembley, who were worried about the British, probably thought that they should not have considered the goalkeeper a weak link in their national team. Jordan Pickford, coping with this blow, showed a fantastic reaction, somehow managing to throw his hand to the side and spread his wide hand to reach the ball.
And in the comments to the online broadcasts of the game on the leading British media resources, English fans, coming up with compliments to Pickford, cursed Harry Kane. The best scorer of the England national team, her hope for scored goals, and in fact, for some reason, unlike most partners, preferred to remain invisible and came to the fore in the first half once – when he reached a dangerous canopy, but already managed to get out games”.
Kane never found himself in this match, sitting in the end on the bench, and the Scottish national team never cracked. The English team in the second half made it clear that they intend to tear them apart with incessant swoops. The Scots rather coolly reflected them, taking advantage of the fact that the opponents somehow did not grow together with hits on target, and from time to time they bite, exposing their fangs. The best chance was for Lyndon Dykes, to whom the ball bounced after another pass. Dykes put his body down, kissed tightly and, presumably, was sure that now nothing and no one would save the British from a conceded goal. But he was wrong. In the first half, Pickford was backed by Stones, in the second, in an even more difficult situation, Rhys James made a feat, guessing at what point near the “ribbon” you need to stand to hit the ball with his head.
As time went on, the England national team lowered their shares. The Scots looked more and more convincing against her background, and they earned a draw absolutely honestly. She, however, still actually brought the British into the playoffs together with the Czech team, which went 1: 1 against the Croats on that day and also scored four points. In the final round, the teams of England and the Czech Republic will compete for the first place in the group, and the most interesting is another meeting within its framework. Croats and Scots have one point each. This means that a draw will kick both of them out of the tournament (it is unrealistic to break through from third place with two points to the cup stage), and the victory of someone will certainly lead to the 1/8 finals.
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