England 2-0 Malta: Player ratings as Three Lions play poorly in low-scoring win

England were largely disappointing in their 2-0 win against Malta in Euro 2024 qualifying on Friday night.

The Three Lions have already secured their spot in next summer's finals while their visitors cannot qualify, which essentially made the match a dead-rubber.

But Gareth Southgate will not have been pleased with what he saw from his side at Wembley after being pressed into various errors by Malta and failing to create many chances.

How the game unfolded

Malta went close to taking a shock lead after just 30 seconds when Conor Gallagher was robbed of possession by Matthew Guillaumier and he set through Teddy Teuma, whose curling shot whispered past the far post.

With the first attack of their own, England broke the deadlock on the eight-minute mark. Marc Guehi's clever ball into Phil Foden was taken in stride, and his low cross was diverted in off of centre-back Enrico Pepe, with the ball bouncing in off the fingertips of goalkeeper Henry Bonello and the underside of the crossbar.

Another England mistake saw Malta come close to scoring a surprise goal. Harry Maguire this time surrendered the ball to Guillaumier, with Paul Mbong played in by the midfielder, but he couldn't keep his shot down and once again the hosts were let off the hook.

England wanted a penalty just before the half-hour mark when Kane was hauled down by Bonello, but the Three Lions captain was shown a yellow card for diving instead - a decision which was inexplicably allowed to stand despite a VAR check.

After 39 minutes, England had their first shot of the game - Trent Alexander-Arnold blazed a speculative effort high over the bar to the frustration of the Wembley faithful.

After the break, Marcus Rashford spurned a chance to double England's advantage, reaching a long bal over the top from Alexander-Arnold and marching into the Malta box, but he was marshalled away from goal and the chance went begging.

The game's first shot on target also came from Alexander-Arnold - his 64th-minute half-volley bounced into the grateful clutches of Bonello.

England at last grabbed a second goal as the game entered the final 15 minutes. Kyle Walker and Foden combined on the edge of the box, with the latter playing a quick first-time pass into Bukayo Saka, and he in turn squared for Kane to finish from close range.

Almost immediately from kick-off, England thought they had added a third. Declan Rice took the ball from Alexander-Arnold and powered his way towards the penalty area, letting fly from the edge of the box and picking out the far corner. However, Kane was judged to have been blocking Bonello's view from an offside position and the goal was chalked off.

England player ratings (4-3-3)

GK: Jordan Pickford - 5/10 - Used as an extra outfielder far more than he was as a traditional goalkeeper.

RB: Kieran Trippier - 4/10 - Struggled to get into the game on the right in the first half. Switched to the left after half-time but still didn't have a huge impact.

CB: Marc Guehi - 7/10 - Did well to play in Foden for the early opener. England's most reliable defender on the night.

CB: Harry Maguire - 5/10 - Guilty of playing some sloppy passes from the back, though wasn;t the only offender in that regard.

LB: Fikayo Tomori - 4/10 - Picked up a yellow card for a rash challenge. Failed to impress while out of position and was withdrawn at the break.

CM: Jordan Henderson - 4/10 - Galloped up and down the pitch to little consequence for Malta. Replaced by Rice after an hour.

CM: Trent Alexander-Arnold - 6/10 - Threaded some lovely Hollywood passes into the final third on occasion, but not enough to really justify his selection in midfield again.

CM: Conor Gallagher - 4/10 - A little fortunate Malta didn't punish his first-minute mistake. Didn't offer enough in way or control or energy and was hauled off at half-time.

RW: Phil Foden - 8/10 - Did superbly well to create the opening own goal. Most of England's exciting moments (even if they were few and far between) came through him.

CF: Harry Kane - 8/10 - Dropped into midfield to get some more touches of the ball, though managed to rediscover his poaching instincts late on. Harshly denied a first-half penalty and cruelly booked for simulation.

LW: Marcus Rashford - 5/10 - Got into some decent positions but his hesitance to pull the trigger helped Malta. Substituted after an hour.

Substitutes

SUB: Kyle Walker (46' for Tomori) - 6/10 - Brought a calmness to the way England played. Admittedly, the big problem here is they were playing Malta.

SUB: Bukayo Saka (46' for Gallagher) - 7/10 - Not as lively as he usually plays for Arsenal but still managed to come up with a selfless assist.

SUB: Declan Rice (61' for Rice) - 6/10 - Took control of the game after coming on. On another day would have added a fine goal to his collection.

SUB: Cole Palmer (61' for Rashford) - 6/10 - Made his debut from the bench. Showed a willingness to try and take players on and make things happen.

Subs not used: Sam Johnstone (GK), Aaron Ramsdale (GK), Ezri Konsa, Rico Lewis, Kalvin Phillips, Jack Grealish, Jarrod Bowen, Ollie Watkins

Manager

Gareth Southgate - 5/10 - England were a bore and barely even masked a poor performance with goals.

Player of the match - Phil Foden

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