Unimpressive England beat Andorra 2-0 in World Cup mismatch
BIRMINGHAM, England :England needed an own goal to open the scoring during a laboured 2-0 win over Andorra in their World Cup qualifier on Saturday before Declan Rice made the result somewhat more respectable against the tiny principality ranked 170 places below them.
A fourth win in four for Thomas Tuchel's team in their campaign for next year's finals put them in command of Group K on 12 points ahead of Tuesday's game in Serbia.
But their often slow build-up play did not excite the near-40,000 Villa Park crowd and will fuel grumbles that they have become a duller team in nearly a year under German coach Thomas Tuchel despite his perfect record in qualifiers.
England's opener came in the 25th minute when a fine cross from Noni Madueke skimmed off Andorra defender Christian Garcia's head into the net with Harry Kane lurking behind him.
Rice added the second in the 67th minute when he met another superb cross, from Reece James this time, to steer a downward header past goalkeeper Iker Alvarez to wrap up the victory against 174th-ranked Andorra.
Andorra, who draw their squad from a population of 80,000, stuck doggedly to their gameplan of packing the defence, often keeping nine men behind the ball and leaving Ricard Fernandez totally isolated up front.
That gave England a remarkable 83 per cent possession, but the hosts fashioned few clear-cut chances beyond Eberechi Eze forcing a save, captain Kane narrowly missing a toe-poke and Marcus Rashford curling a shot wide.
One positive for Tuchel, though, was an impressive debut from midfielder Elliot Anderson, who looked assured and slick, albeit against opposition far inferior to what he normally faces in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest.
"I think he passed the test," Tuchel said, hinting that Anderson would start again in Serbia. "He was a bit nervous in camp but he had a very good game."
TOUGHER OPPOSITION
Accustomed to cantering into tournaments but still without a major trophy since their 1966 World Cup win, England remain unbeaten in their last 35 World Cup qualifiers with 27 of those won.
Tuchel said England would try to "prove a point" against tougher opposition in Serbia, who beat Latvia 1-0 in their qualifier on Saturday.
Serbia are England's main rivals in the five-team group, with seven points from three games. The group winners qualify automatically while the runners-up go into a playoff.
"I am absolutely convinced we are on the right path," Tuchel added. "Today it was a good performance, a deserved result, we should have won with more goals. I’m okay with that. We take more positives than negatives."
Andorra are bottom of the group after five defeats.
Coach Koldo Alvarez, whose team held England to a 1-0 win in the corresponding fixture in Andorra in June, was proud of the performance though disappointed at the poor marking that left Rice unchallenged for his headed goal.
"For the first goal, everyone can make a mistake, but the second one, we’ve been working hard all week, that should not happen," he said.
"I have to congratulate my players, because I think we have played quite well. We know it’s difficult, but we try and improve every time. We know that even giving 100 per cent like today, sometimes it’s not enough, but this is how we go forward."
(Reporting Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Ken Ferris)
