Match Report – Finland 1-3 England
In a much-anticipated turnaround, England dazzled on the
pitch, outclassing Finland and leaving behind the shadows of Thursday night’s
struggles.
The visitors took the lead early in the game through Jack
Grealish before goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Declan Rice ensured a three-goal
cushion before the hosts got a goal through Arttu Hoskonen in the closing
stages of the game.
Kick-Off
England started the game the better out of the two sides,
but the first chance of the game came to Finland. Angel Gomes lost the ball
deep into his own half and Benjamin Kallman received it and his shot was
blocked, before Aberdeen winger Topi Keskinen failed to convert the rebound.
18 minutes into the first half, England broke the deadlock
from a well-worked Jack Grealish goal. Angel Gomes cleverly drew the Finnish
players towards him from outside the box and after that delivered a delightful
ball which found Grealish, who timed his run to pure perfection and coolly
slotted home past Lukas Hradecky.
The hosts had their best chance of the half late on after a
Crossfield pass flew behind Alexander-Arnold and found Nikolai Alho who teed up
Fredrik Jensen inside the England area, but his shot was blazed well over.
Just before the break, Finland had the final chance which
was gifted to them after an error from Alexander-Arnold allowed to Kallman to
deliver a beautifully weighted cross into the box, but there was no teammate
waiting for the cross. It was a case of the wrong player at the right time, if
another player was crossing the ball, Kallman may have been lingering in that
position.
Half Time: Finland 0-1 England.
England started the second half in a sloppy manner. Jude
Bellingham lost the ball poorly on the halfway line and allowed winger Keskinen
to race towards the England goal before offloading to Kallman who cut inside
but was crowded away by the visitor’s defence, but England struggled to clear.
Despite a quiet first half for Chelsea attacker Cole Palmer,
he linked well with his former teammate Kyle Walker and a low cross was well
cut out but landed kindly to Palmer again and forced Hradecky to get down low
and cling onto the ball among an area full of bodies.
Just before the hour mark, Finland had a golden opportunity
to level the tie through Augsburg winger Jensen. Once again Keskinen managed to
isolate the English defence, this time John Stones being the victim on the
dangerous left-hand side and a low cross avoided both Marc Guehi and Kallman
but it kindly landed at the feet of Jensen, who had a gaping goal, managed to
miss the target and let England off the hook again.
After the 70-minute mark had passed, Lee Carsley introduced
Noni Madueke and Ollie Watkins for a fresh spark in the England attack,
replacing Palmer and Harry Kane, who were both quiet in the game.
Watkins had successive chances minutes apart after he
entered the pitch, a poor touch from the Finnish defender allowed Madueke some
space and he rushed away from his man before attempting to square it to fellow substitute
Watkins, but Hradecky got down quick and cut it out. A long ball forward was
met well by the Aston Villa striker who smartly found Bellingham who drew a
free kick in shooting range.
Immediately from that free kick, a stunner from
Alexander-Arnold was hit impeccably well and rocketed past the Bayer Leverkusen
goalkeeper into the top left corner which left him no chance as England doubled
their lead. 2-0.
Finland’s legs started to tire, and England took advantage
of this and began attacking more and more as the game went by. This time
Grealish began an attack with just over 10 minutes to go, who pulled back to
Bellingham and his shot alerted Hradecky to move his hands away and let the
shot fizz wide.
This time Rice managed to find the net to finish the game
off for the visitors. A dangerous run from Watkins down that left hand side once
again and he drew the defenders out towards him which allowed Rice to poke home
from close range and secure the points in this game.
Just 3 minutes later, Finland pulled back a consolation with
just minutes left at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium from a well worked set piece.
Finland won the corner on the left-hand side and Hoskonen met the ball well at
the near post with a nicely cushioned header. Dean Henderson will be annoyed
that he couldn’t keep a clean sheet in a game where he had little to do.
FULL TIME: Finland 1-3 England.
Lee Carsley will be pleased that his side ended the break
with a much better performance than what was displayed at Wembley on Thursday
evening in a game where his side looked more threatening all evening, even if
the squad aren’t yet back at their best. Finland looked promising in spells,
and they had chances to change the game completely when the score was only 0-1.
However, England look set for promotion back to League A, and Finland are all
but down to League C.