It is the tournament qualification that has come to feel impossible for England to miss – and not only because of their victory over Italy in Naples in March’s opening tie, although that plainly helps. The top two nations in this five-team group will advance to Euro 2024 in Germany and there is even a possible safety net via the Nations League.
And so, with Ukraine beaten at Wembley in the second game, England had this stroll to another victory, another step closer to the inevitable, against limited opposition in the shape of Malta. The hosts are 172nd in the Fifa rankings and there is a reason why they have won only seven qualifying ties in 61 years of trying.
This went pretty much as everybody thought it would go, elite level players against a group that are several notches below and, for the clearest example of the gulf in class, nobody inside this small but sprawling venue needed to look too far beyond the figure in the England No 10 shirt.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was given an opportunity in midfield by Gareth Southgate and he responded with a performance that showcased his near unique ability on the ball. His passing was on point, together with his reading of the spaces and there was also a vicious long -range blast for England’s second goal. Yes, it was only Malta but it was a reminder, up and close and personal for Southgate, as to what he can bring.
After an early Ferdinando Apap own goal, England would add two penalties, one from Harry Kane, the second from the substitute Callum Wilson. The star of the show, however, was clear.
It is the middle of June, the Ashes have started and yet this seemingly eternal season staggers on – nearly three weeks after the finale to the Premier League campaign. It will not end for England until Monday night when they play North Macedonia at Old Trafford.
It is too much. Everybody knows it. But nobody in positions of influence want to do anything about it. We are where we are, 4,100 England fans had travelled, bringing their flags and colour to a sell-out 17,000 crowd, and the idea was that Southgate’s team would cut through Malta’s compact lines.
The stand-out tactical detail was Southgate’s use of Alexander-Arnold at the right-side in his 4-3-3 formation and the Liverpool player was in the mood at the outset, his first action to drive up the flank like an old-fashioned winger, beating a couple of red shirts, crossing and winning a corner.
Alexander-Arnold’s weight of pass was a feature, the fizz and assurance, too, and he was behind the breakthrough goal, getting side-on and whipping a ball over the top and up the inside right channel for Bukayo Saka, whose low cross looked to have given Kane a tap-in. Before it reached the captain, the backtracking Apap bundled over his own line.
It was easy to feel an echo from the early part of Southgate’s tenure. His team had been barracked here by the England support during a World Cup qualifier in September 2017, who declared them “fucking shit” and staged a mass second-half walk-out. Although they won 4-0 with three late goals, Southgate said on Thursday that most of the fans were in the pubs at 1-0, maybe even 0-0 at half-time. Anger and apathy were the emotions.
Much has changed since then and that includes Southgate’s personnel. There were only five survivors from that night – Kyle Walker, John Stones, Jordan Henderson, Kane and Marcus Rashford; only two of them in the starting line-up here.
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Southgate could have used an early goal back then. With it here, his team could relax into the game. Saka started well, pace to burn, his movement shimmering with menace, but not as well as Alexander-Arnold, whose strike for 2-0 was a belter.
By now, he was strutting about, enjoying himself and, when the ball broke for him after James Maddison had given it away, he set himself from distance and made the calculations. They were perfect, so was the technique, the flying up and over the dive of Henry Bonello.
It was not just Alexander-Arnold who enjoyed himself. With the England support calm, enjoying the cooling breeze, Maddison had a few nice moments and so did Kane. England might have had more before the interval, Saka extending Bonello in stoppage time although, by then, he had felt a heavy challenge that needed attention. He did not reappear for the second half, Phil Foden replacing him.
The second-half came to feel like a pre-season friendly which, in a few more weeks, it probably would be, Southgate using his substitutes and Malta still struggling to cross the halfway line. Never mind Jordan Pickford being a spectator, the England defenders could have fired up the cigars.
The second penalty award was for a harsh handball against Steve Borg, Wilson’s cross having banged into him at close quarters and, by then, some of the England fans had drifted towards the exits. The visiting enclosure was virtually empty leading up to full-time. Unlike the last time, the early leavers went with a smile. Apart from Alexander-Arnold, there was little for them to see here.
