Dire England held by fired-up Scots as Southgate’s men stutter in Euro 2020 clash at Wembley

Justin McDonald 2:08 PM

England and Scotland played out a Euro 2020 stalemate at Wembley where the visitors got the better of their hosts on various occasions. In turn, England could not guarantee qualification to the knockout phases just yet.

In a crucial clash for the visitors, who were aiming to score their first goal at a major tournament since France '98, Scotland made four changes as Callum McGregor, Che Adams, Kieran Tierney and Billy Gilmour came into the side.

Though Champions League winner Reece James and Manchester United's Luke Shaw were called in at right back and left back respectively, England were relatively unchanged from the side that beat Croatia 1-0 last time out, though this time they employed a flat back four.

One interesting stat is that England were fielding their youngest ever side in either the Euros or World Cup with an average age of 25 years 13 days.

And before kick off, fans from either country booed each other's national anthems as any minor booing, if there was any, of the knee both teams took was drowned out.

Navigating a slippery service in the pouring rain, it was a cagey opening 10 minutes with just a single chance enjoyed by the Scots when Adams was unchallenged from 10 yards out yet blocked by John Stones.

Raheem Sterling began to work his trickery down the left wing, and when Mason Mount's shot was deflected out after Phil Foden had laid it off to him on the edge of the box, the resulting corner was headed on to the post by Stones to send Wembley roaring.

Sterling was again key in quick succession, when nutmegging Scott McTominay. But Mount couldn't convert from close range, as England had two huge opportunities in a matter of minutes.

As Tierney volleyed wide from long range, Scotland managed to regain their composure.

There was an intriguing midfield battle with plenty of bite between Chelsea teammates Mount and Billy Gilmour in his first ever international start. 

And when Tierney crossed the ball over to O'Donnell who had found space, Scotland almost took the lead when a volley almost beat Jordan Pickford and the rebound couldn't be directed towards goal shortly after.

As there were calls to hook an evidently unfit Harry Kane and introduce Jack Grealish, the Scots ended the first half in better shape.

Their patience against a hesitant foe was paying off as England fans were left frustrated upon the half-time whistle without stoppage time. 

The Three Lions came back out for the second half with more of a spring of their step, but once a Mount shot from range had been palmed out by David Marshall, they fell back into their old ways and seemed to lack both urgency and inspiration. 

James hit just over on 55 minutes and should have done better, and as Kane yet again struggled on a counter attack when Adams couldn't get his shot off near the six-yarder, Grealish could be seen warming up to cheers.

Scotland had England fans wincing when a pin point delivery would have landed square on Lyndon Dykes' head were it not met by Mings first, and a volley from the number nine was cleared off the line by James.

Finally Grealish entered to fan fare, but there wasn't any immediate impact from the Aston Villa man while ever the Scots held on to possession to limit any influence he could have.

Far too late, but better late than never, Kane was hooked for Marcus Rashford with a quarter of an hour to spare.

Adams had arguably Scotland's best chance of the affair when alone at the back post, but he couldn't keep his shot down.

As boos circled around Wembley and Scots fans sang terrace anthems, both sides started to appear happy with a point.

There was a goalmouth scrap near the death involving Declan Rice, Sterling and McTominay, but England were pulled up for a foul in any event as either white shirt failed to get a shot off. 

The evening ending 0-0, then, both head to their last matches on Tuesday with England needing to beat the Czech Republic to top the group and Scotland requiring a win against 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia to stand a chance of progressing.

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Justin McDonald

Posted by Justin McDonald

The name's Justin McDonald. The one and only author of JSA: The World. Nice to meet ya!

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