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Fantastic England cruise past disappointing San Marino
Luke Shaw's first ever England goal helps England defeat bottom of the group San Marino by 5 goals to put England in pole position to win the group.
Hodgson's men were so close to qualifying for Euro 2016 and their next challenge saw little San Marino travel to Wembley to try and register their first points in the qualifying stage, but on paper this already looked like a big victory for England and for lots of goals to be scored.
Hodgson looked set to give new players a chance to impress against San Marino, with players such as John Stones and Luke Shaw a possibility to start against San Marino at the expense of more experienced players such as Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka, which gave us the impression that Hodgson knows England will win and wants to give newer players more caps and experience at international level.
England XI vs San Marino
(4-3-3)Hart; Walker, Cahill(c), Stones, Shaw; Jones, Wilshere, Henderson; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sterling, Welbeck.
Subs: McCarthy, Jagielka, Ward-Prowse, Rooney, Baines, Redmond, Sturridge.
San Marino XI vs England
(4-5-1)Simoncini; Vitaioli(c), Biordi, Della Valle, Brolli; Palazzi, Valentini, Mazza, Zavoli, Vitaioli; Tomassini.
Subs: Manzaroli, Valentini, Reggini, Bianchi, Stefanelli, Ciacci, Gualandi.
Hodgson stuck to his word and named a more in-experienced line-up, with Luke Shaw and John Stones getting a well deserved start, and there was a place on the bench for the lightning quick Norwich winger Nathan Redmond, who has impressed Hodgson for his recent performances both for Norwich and the England under 21's.
As for San Marino, they named the same starting eleven from their recent loss against Finland, hoping that they can try and get at least a point at Wembley and go for a more defensive formation. This should be a very easy game for England so you'd expect lots of goals.
First Half
England kicked off and immediately pushed forward their midfielders with Jack Wilshere and Jordan Henderson sprinting forward with the two wide men Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sterling and Phil Jones hitting a long pass forward towards Danny Welbeck, which he controlled well and found the run of Wilshere, who cut inside of his preferred left foot and struck a curling shot towards Simoncini's goal, but the San Marino keeper was able to tip the ball away which allowed Biordi to clear the ball upfield.
England were starting to dominate the midfield as Cahill headed the ball forward to Phil Jones, who looked up and played the ball to Wilshere, who held the ball up with his strength and found the on-rushing Phil Jones, who turned and found Welbeck to his left, Welbeck then knocked forward a lovely ball to Sterling who was in space, he weighed up the shot and smashed it low and hard from a tight angle and beat Simoncini at his near post to give England the lead within 5 minutes of the game.
San Marino couldn't get any possession and cheaply gave the ball away to Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had a shot and forced Simoncini into a spectatular save to deny the winger his first goal of the match, however the ball then dropped the Danny Welbeck, who found Phil Jones in some space, he looked up and played the ball into the feet of Oxlade-Chamberlain, who turned past his man and side footed the ball into the bottom right-hand corner to make it 2-0 to England.
And if you thought it couldn't get any worse for San Marino at this stage, you were wrong. They kicked off yet again and Henderson immediately put pressure on Bianchi who gave the ball away, Henderson drove at the defence, found Sterling with a low pass who floated a cross towards the back post where Oxlade-Chamberlain jumped higher than Brolli and headed the ball towards the far post past Simoncini to make it 3-0 within 18 minutes.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored two goals in two minutes to increase England's 1-0 lead to three within the first 18 minutes of the game.
And still, San Marino couldn't keep possession and they gave the ball away once again and Jones got possession, he played the ball forward in-front of Oxlade-Chamberlain who waited for support from Sterling, who he picked out with a lobbed pass and Sterling struck the ball sweetly and rattled the crossbar which was a shame as it was a great effort from the Liverpool winger.
England kept up the pressure but couldn't convert anymore chances and went into half-time leading San Marino 3-0 with Raheem Sterling getting one goal and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scoring a brace. It looked set to be another dominating second half performance judging by the first half.
Second Half
San Marino kicked off the second half and tried to keep possession around the back four, playing around 10 passes throughout the back four but they couldn't pick out Tomassini up-front and John Stones gained possession back for England and again England kept the ball well and played it on forward to set up yet another attack which Welbeck struck just over the crossbar.
England won another corner as Sterling's shot was blocked and the young Liverpool winger took the corner and swung the ball into the centre of the box where John Stones rose the highest and smashed the ball with his head down towards the ground which bounced up and over Simoncini and made it 4-0 England with Stones getting his 2nd England goal in his 3rd game.
England continued to dominate and won a free-kick 25 yards from goal, Henderson wanted to take it and did so, coming so close to making it 5-0 England as he dipped the ball over the wall but Simoncini had enough strength to beat the ball away and out of the danger zone to try and keep San Marino's dignity intact.
It then soon became 5-0 as Welbeck gained possession 30 yards from goal, he looked to his left and saw the run of young full-back Luke Shaw and chipped the ball towards him, and the Southampton full-back struck the ball neatly on the half-volley across Simoncini to make it 5-0 and give Luke Shaw his first ever England goal which he celebrated emotionally.
Luke Shaw scored his first ever England goal as he struck a neat half-volley across the goalkeeper to make it 5-0 England.
England then started to slow the tempo down as San Marino became more tired and it became a game of 'keep-ball' as England passed effortlessly around the San Marino midfield and Raheem Sterling struck the ball from 40 yards out which Simoncini held onto well but the England was over already with a good 15 minutes left.
The referee then blew his whistle to mark the end of the game which finished 5-0 to England with Sterling, Stones and Shaw all getting one goal each and Oxlade-Chamblerain scoring a brace to all but secure England qualifying for Euro 2016 as they top their group with a 6 point gap from Finland.
Roy Hodgson's Post Match Comments:
"It was a great victory which on paper was expected. We're all but qualified for the Euro's now and I expect the players to finish off the campaign strongly. I'm really happy that Luke Shaw also got his first England goal, he deserved it and it was a great finish. We now look ahead to our next game and prepare for that."
Goalscorer Luke Shaw:
"I'm really proud to score my first England goal, especially like that one! I really hope I can continue to impress and maybe bag another few goals for England, but mostly importantly, we got the win, and that's what counts."
