Possibly the best illustration of how toothless England were for long spells of this never-in-doubt victory over the fourth-worst team in Europe was that they mustered their first shot on target only in the 64th minute. It came from Trent Alexander-Arnold and it was routine for the Malta goalkeeper, Henry Bonello.
England had been ahead since Enrico Pepe’s eighth minute own goal, forced by Phil Foden, who was the best player on the pitch. But it was all a bit vanilla, Gareth Southgate’s team not needing to overexert themselves and not doing so.
