England made it two wins from two during this international break as goals from Ollie Watkins and Raheem Sterling helped them to a comfortable 3-0 win over Ivory Coast at Wembley.
The pair’s efforts came either side of a red card for Ivorian captain Serge Aurier, though in truth the visitors - without former England international Wilfried Zaha - rarely threatened even with a full compliment and Tyrone Mings’ stoppage time header gave the scoreline a more accurate reflection.
Gareth Southgate made ten changes to the side that had beaten Switzerland on Saturday, with only Ben White, a late addition to the lineup for that game after John Stones’ injury in the warm-up, keeping his place.
Among the new faces were Watkins and Tyrick Mitchell, both making their first starts for their country, and teenager Jude Bellingham, afforded a chance to impress as he looks to break into the England midfield on a more regular basis heading towards the World Cup in Qatar.
The Borussia Dortmund man struck the post on 15 minutes after a sharp one-two with Sterling, before Mitchell’s low cross just evaded Watkins at the far post in a bright England start.
On the half-hour mark, however, the Aston Villa striker was presented with a chance he could hardly miss and opened the scoring with a simple tap-in after persistent work from Sterling.
England were already well in control before former Tottenham man Aurier made their task even more straightforward with a petulant dismissal for two yellow cards inside the opening 40 minutes.
By the time the break arrived, the hosts had doubled their advantage, Jack Grealish cutting back perfectly for Sterling to slide home after his initial effort had been blocked.
The impressive Bellingham looked to have won a penalty within seconds of the restart but VAR correctly overturned the decision, spotting that half-time substitute Fousseny Coulibaly had taken a piece of the ball.
James Ward-Prowse went close to a spectacular third from long-range, while Emile Smith Rowe also threatened in stoppage time as part of a lively late cameo.
It was Mings, however, who completed the scoring, heading down into the turf and up into the net with what was virtually the last touch of the match.
