Gareth Southgate started his reign as England's interim manager with a comfortable win against minnows Malta at Wembley. Southgate - in charge for four games following Sam Allardyce's departure after the single World Cup qualifying win in Slovakia - had an untroubled opening as England easily overcame a Malta side merely intent on damage limitation. Daniel Sturridge's clever header from Jordan Henderson's cross opened the scoring after 29 minutes and any notion this would be a contest against the side ranked 176th by Fifa ended when Dele Alli scrambled home a second before half-time.
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| - Gareth Southgate started his reign as England's interim manager with a comfortable win against minnows Malta at Wembley. Southgate - in charge for four games following Sam Allardyce's departure after the single World Cup qualifying win in Slovakia - had an untroubled opening as England easily overcame a Malta side merely intent on damage limitation. Daniel Sturridge's clever header from Jordan Henderson's cross opened the scoring after 29 minutes and any notion this would be a contest against the side ranked 176th by Fifa ended when Dele Alli scrambled home a second before half-time.
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- England v Malta
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- Qualification to 2018 FIFA World Cup
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| abstract
| - Gareth Southgate started his reign as England's interim manager with a comfortable win against minnows Malta at Wembley. Southgate - in charge for four games following Sam Allardyce's departure after the single World Cup qualifying win in Slovakia - had an untroubled opening as England easily overcame a Malta side merely intent on damage limitation. Daniel Sturridge's clever header from Jordan Henderson's cross opened the scoring after 29 minutes and any notion this would be a contest against the side ranked 176th by Fifa ended when Dele Alli scrambled home a second before half-time. Only Malta's heroic goalkeeper Andrew Hogg stood between England and further goals with fine saves from Alli, Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott and debutant Jesse Lingard as the hosts made it maximum points from two qualifiers. Southgate's pre-match mantra was that he wanted his England side to be brave, casting aside the shackles that have restricted them before. It was a message that was applicable to Southgate's approach in general rather than this specific fixture - it was competence not courage that was required to succeed with ease here. There was a touch of conservatism about Southgate's own selection as he ignored the claims of Manchester United's precocious teenager Marcus Rashford to go with Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge and Rashford's Old Trafford team-mate Lingard in attack. Sturridge was on target while Lingard was bright enough without dazzling, almost scoring with a first-half header and making a good run to set up Walcott in the second half, so that selection was justified. England were progressive and positive enough to get the job done - but proof of bravery will come on nights other than this one. Once again Rooney was the hot topic of conversation in the build-up to this game. Was he worth his place in England's team under the latest regime after the controversy of his "play anywhere" performance in Allardyce's only game, the win in Slovakia? Southgate had no hesitation in both retaining him as captain and also playing him from the start against Malta. But the question of Rooney's long-term future cannot be answered against opposition like Malta and with unconvincing performances like this. Rooney played in a deep midfield role, often almost England's deepest player in the opening half, and his display consisted mainly of passes spread wide and the occasional shot - surges forward into the danger area that were once his trademark were conspicuous by their absence. He did force two fine saves from Hogg but this was almost like a run-out for Rooney and he produced nothing to banish the doubts about his place in England's long-term plans. Southgate will be delighted with the win. It could have been more convincing in all respects but he will regard it as job done. England were never going to be in danger against a side of such limited options and talents - so more might emerge on his game plan and approach against Slovenia on Tuesday. Scotland are the next visitors to Wembley on 11 November. This is shaping up as the game that could make or break Southgate's hopes of landing the England job on a full-time basis.
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