England beat Netherlands 1-0 in a friendly in Amsterdam courtesy of a well-taken second-half strike by Manchester United winger Jesse Lingard.
The 25-year-old netted his first strike for England as he made a great connection on a loose ball just outside the box after good play on the left by Danny Rose.
WATCH: Jesse Lingard goal vs Netherlands
While this will certainly not go down as a classic, Gareth Southgate will be pleased to have ended a poor personal run as England boss and claim a big-name scalp ahead of the World Cup.
Sure, the Netherlands are weaker than they’ve been in decades and won’t be at this summer’s tournament, but our point still stands.
Here’s the good, the bad, and the weird from England’s first game of the international break…
Good strike, @JesseLingard! ?pic.twitter.com/95kbAgo56Z
— England (@England) March 23, 2018
The good
England are determined, you’ve got to at least give them that. Let’s just see how far this can get them once it gets to the real football at the World Cup this summer.
13 – Of England’s last 15 goals scored away from home, 13 of those have been registered in the second half (87%). Persistence. pic.twitter.com/32muvvZIDb
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 23, 2018
The bad
This pretty much sums it up. It was not a great watch by any stretch of the imagination. Standard England, basically.
1 – Despite having 54% possession in the first half, England (1) registered fewer shots on target than Netherlands (2); with their only one coming in the 8th minute through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Restricted. pic.twitter.com/L7EpXk0QDB
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) March 23, 2018
The weird
England normally specialise in uninspiring victories in games that don’t really matter, so this came as a surprise to us, anyway…
This is the first time England have won a friendly with Gareth Southgate as manager.
At the sixth time of asking. ??????? pic.twitter.com/LrBltLCahK
— Indy Football (@IndyFootball) March 23, 2018