England maintained their unbeaten run on Tuesday night by coming from behind to draw 1-1 with Italy in an international friendly in Turin.
It is now nine games since Roy Hodsgon’s Three Lions were defeated, but they came close to losing – as they relied on a late wondergoal from sub Andros Townsend to cancel out Graziano Pelle’s first-half header.
SEE MORE: (Video) Italy 1-1 England highlights: Andros Townsend saves Three Lions in Turin
Here’s how Roy’s boys rated…
GK: Joe Hart – 7/10
Making his 50th senior England appearance, Hart did pretty well. He made a good save to deny Marco Parolo from 30 yards in the first half and produced an impressive block to thwart Eder after the break. The Manchester City stopper could have done very little to prevent Pelle’s well-placed goal.
RB: Nathaniel Clyne – 5/10
Was not as dangerous going forward as he usually is. His defensive game looked a little shaky too. Rightly hooked at half time to make way for Kyle Walker.
LB: Kieran Gibbs – 6/10
Solid defensively, but abject in an attacking sense. The Arsenal man got into Italy’s half on multiple occasions, but he lacked the composure to deliver a successful final ball on too many occasions.
CB: Phil Jagielka – 6/10
A mixed performance from the Everton centre-back, who made made a superb clearance to deny a certain goal in the first-half and then one of the worst clearances ever in the second. The latter went unpunished courtesy of a shockingly-poor finish from Pelle.
CB: Chris Smalling – 6/10
Put in a decent first-half shift before leaving the field with what looked like concussion.
DM: Phil Jones – 7.5/10
Started the game in midfield – much to the shock and horror of many fans. However, the Manchester United man was very impressive, utilising his all-action approach to good effect in central areas. He switched to centre-half when Michael Carrick replaced Smalling midway through the game and did well at the back too.
CM: Fabian Delph – 5.5/10
Remained on the pitch for far too long. Was a passenger for much of his 69-minute outing.
CM: Jordan Henderson – 6.5/10
Held his own in what was a rather fierce midfield battle at times.
AM: Wayne Rooney – 7/10
The skipper didn’t have his best shooting boots on, but he was very positive and his link-up play with Harry Kane was very encouraging.
ST: Theo Walcott – 5/10
Started the game as a striker, before briefly swapping roles with Rooney at the interval. Walcott struggled to get into the game and was hauled off on 54 minutes to give Ross Barkley a run-out.
ST: Harry Kane – 7.5/10
Was given very little service, but looked dangerous throughout the entire 90 minutes. He was pushed around by the Italian defence, but the Tottenham goal machine refused to be bullied and stood up to the rough stuff well, giving England’s attack the physical focal point it has missed for many years.
Subs:
Michael Carrick: 7.5/10 – gave England’s midfield a cultural boost, which was key to their second-half improvement.
Kyle Walker: 5.5/10 – Slightly better than Clyne, but Walker seems to lack the footballing intelligence to emulate England’s last great right-back – Gary Neville.
Ross Barkley: 7/10 – Transformed England’s attack after replacing Walcott in the number 10 position.
Andros Townsend: 7/10 – Provided the side with some genuine width when he came on for Delph on 69 minute. Looked very keen to impress and he did just that, with a terrific long-range equaliser.
Ryan Mason: 7/10 – Made the big step up to senior international football pretty well. He threw himself into the heart of the battle and produced a brave slide tackle which set-up Townsend’s fine goal.
Ryan Bertrand: n/a – Only on the pitch for a few minutes.
