England 2-1 Croatia: 5 takeaways | UEFA Nations League 2018-19
England and Croatia faced off in the final match of Group A. Wembley Stadium hosted a great match which saw the home side go through to the semifinal stages of the UEFA Nations League.
England dominated proceedings for the majority of the first half, but Croatia took the lead in the second. Two late goals from Lingard and Kane saw England make a great comeback to proceed.
Croatia has been relegated to League B now, and has to fix a lot of issues. England is continuing to play possession football with their young team and it is spelling success for them.
The 2-1 win means that Spain will stay in League A. Croatia missed their midfield man Ivan Rakitic, but it did not seem he could have made a difference. Their failure to keep possession of the ball cost them as England hit them late in the game.
Here are five talking points from the game.
#5 England piles on the pressure early, Croatia lives dangerously
England controlled most of the possession in the first half, not giving even a sniff to Croatia. They created a number of chances in the first half but Croatia somehow managed to keep the scores at 0-0. Raheem Sterling had a shot saved early by Kalinic, and Harry Kane missed a golden opportunity to fire England in front when he missed a simple tap-in.
Rashford had a chance off a quick break from Pickford's long pass, but failed to take a shot at goal. There were chances for England when Kalinic left his line dangerously, but they couldn't capitalise on it.
The first shot was cleared by a header from Jedvaj and the second effort was saved by Kalinic. Harry Kane was thus denied twice. Delph managed to put Sterling through, but still the goal did not come.
There was plenty to feast on for Kane, Sterling, and Rashford. Kyle Walker and Chilwell created a lot of opportunities for their forward line, but Croatia hung on for dear life. The Croatians did not have any good chance in the first half other than Rebic's wild shot at open goal, but England looked ominous from the opening whistle.