Player ratings: 8/10 Kane seals England comeback win v Croatia

England came from behind to beat Croatia 2-1 and qualify for the semi-finals of the inaugural Uefa Nations League at Wembley on Sunday.

The win comes after Zlatko Dalic’s side knocked the Three Lions out of the World Cup at the semi-final stage last summer.

Gareth Southgate’s side had a number of chances in the first half but failed to make the most of their early pressure and it was Croatia that opened the scoring, with Andrej Kramaric’s deflected effort sailing past Jordan Pickford in the early stages of the second half.

However, substitute Jesse Lingard got England back on level terms after he tapped in with just over ten minutes remaining and captain Harry Kane completed the comeback after poking home from a Ben Chilwell free-kick.

The result means Croatia have been relegated to the lower tier of the competition, with Spain missing out on promotion.

Here’s how the players rated on another big day for Gareth Southgate and his side.

England

 

Jordan Pickford – 7 – England’s No. 1 made a slightly nervy start to the game and nearly cost his side a goal when trying to avoid a backpass. Howevever, his distribution very impressive at times, just as it was against Spain last month. There wasn’t much he could have done about Kramaric’s deflected goal. The Everton goalkeeper looks at home as England’s first choice and perfect for the way Gareth Southgate wants to play.

Kyle Walker – 6 – Typically impressive pace and power down the right flank at times but this wasn’t Walker’s best match for England. Croatia made things difficult for him during certain periods. He does, however, look like he’s going to play a lot of football in his favoured right-back position in this 4-3-3 system.

Joe Gomez – 8 – Yet another very impressive performance from a top class young centre-back. Gomez’s general awareness and quality on the ball is excellent. His long throw, something he’s added to his game in the last few months, led to England’s all important equaliser.

John Stones – 6 – This wasn’t Stones’ best game for England but it probably wasn’t his worst, either. There were one or two stray passes from him in the first half but he commanded the backline well and symbolises everything Southgate wants from his players in this England team. He was perhaps at fault for diving in too early for Croatia’s opener.

Ben Chilwell – 7 – Another good performance from the Leicester defender. It’s interesting that he was given the nod over Luke Shaw again. Chilwell was on set-pieces and, despite disappointing with a number of his corners in the first half, he did deliver an excellent cross for Kane’s winner.

Eric Dier – 5 – Dier continues to be the one player in this team that receives a lot of criticism from supporters. His second-half performance was particularly poor on Sunday. He struggled to deal with Luka Modric at times but he’s not the first and won’t be the last to have that issue.

Ross Barkley – 7 – Barkley looks very confident at the moment. You get the feeling that Southgate is selecting him because he’s playing under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea in a style that the England manager is trying to implement at national level. The midfielder drove forward well in first half and linked well with forward players. He’s keeping Dele Alli out of the first-choice XI at present.

Fabian Delph – 8 – The most eye-catching name on team sheet. Delph may not have played if Henderson was fit but he delivered. In the first half he very nearly set up a goal with an incredible pass for Raheem Sterling. This was a clever selection from Southgate. 

Raheem Sterling – 7 – Both him and Rashford made some excellent runs inside and look at home in this system. Sterling linked well with the other forward players and was a constant menace. He’ll have been disappointed to not have scored in first half and will want another England goal soon having netted a brace in Spain last month.

Marcus Rashford – 8 – What a talent. Rashford worked very hard on Sunday, just as he did against Spain. The United forward must be a nightmare to defend against. He caused so many problems in the early stages of the second half and you get the feeling he’s going to do a lot of good things for England in the years to come. Jose Mourinho may be worried by the fact he went straight down the tunnel with a slight limp after his substitution.

Harry Kane – 8 – This wasn’t Kane’s best performance but, as he so often does, he came good when he needed to. The skipper got an assist for Lingard’s equaliser and then stepped forward to win the game for his side in the closing stages. England’s talisman.

Substitutions:

Dele Alli – 7 – Alli will have been disappointed to have not started this game and made a good impact when he came on.

Jesse Lingard – 8 – This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Lingard come off the bench and turn the game on its head. Scored the equaliser and cleared a Domagoj Vida header off the line at 1-1. A big game player.

Jadon Sancho – 7 – Sancho was thrown on with England chasing the game at 1-0 and he didn’t disappoint. What a talent.

Croatia

Lovre Kalinic – 7 – The Croatia goalkeeper made some important saves in the early stages despite looking nervy at times. He absolutely clattered Raheem Sterling after a clever ball from Fabian Delph but, crucially, he got the ball first. There’s not much he could have done about the two goals.

Sime Vrsaljko – 6 – Substituted early on with an injury.

Dejan Lovren – 7 – The Liverpool defender talks the talk but for most of this game he helped his defence to produce a solid performance. They frustrated England for large periods of this match. He was booked in the second half for giving the referee a mouthful.

Domagoj Vida – 7 – Another of England’s arch-enemies from the World Cup. Vida epitomises this Croatia team. Grit and determination.

Tin Jedvaj – 7 – After two dramatic goals against Spain on Thursday, this was a slightly different match for Jedvaj. He moved from left-back to right-back after Vrsaljko went off injured.

Marcelo Brozovic – 7 – A hard-working performance. There’s no doubt the Croatia midfield missed the presence of Ivan Rakitic. Inter midfielder Brozovic wasn’t at all happy when the referee penalised him for a foul on Rashford in the second half.

Luka Modric – 8 – Classy, as you’d expect. He makes this team tick. He upped his game in the second half and got his team on the front foot. He ran the game for a solid 15-20 minutes after half time and is unlucky to be on the losing side here.

Nikola Vlasic – 6 – The Everton midfielder, who is on loan at CSKA Moscow this season, didn’t produce anything of note in the absence of Rakitic and Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic.

Andrej Kramaric – 7 – The goalscorer. It was a deflected effort, but the former Leicester man did very well to get his shot off in the first place. Changed positions during the second period after Ante Rebic was brought off at half time.

Ivan Perisic – 7 – The Inter winger may not be entirely happy with his performance here but he is always such a threat. Missed one or two good opportunities in the second half.

Ante Rebic – 6 – Came off at half-time. Unclear whether he was withdrawn because of an injury but he struggled to get into the game when he was on the pitch and was wasteful with some long-range efforts.

Substitutions:

Antonio Milic: 6 – Replaced Vrsaljko and didn’t do too much wrong at left-back but didn’t do a lot to push his team on, either.

Josip Brekalo: 7 – A good cameo. The winger gave the England backline something different to try and deal with.

Marko Rog: 6 – Came on for the last ten minutes when most of the ball was in Croatia’s half and England turned the game on its head.

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