It was a night when Gareth Southgate shuffled his pack extensively and asked whether a number of players on the fringes of his England team could cope with the weight of the shirt. By full time, with Ivory Coast demoralised and dismantled, the manager had an emphatic answer.
From first to last, this was a procession, the visitors seemingly wanting to be elsewhere – ideally the playoffs for Africa’s five World Cup spots which were going on without them. The Elephants had said goodbye to the circus when they finished second to Cameroon at the group phase of qualification.
The captain, Serge Aurier, gave England a helping hand when he got himself sent off in the 40th minute for a second yellow card, which appeared to be for dissent. It was such a strange moment, out of keeping with the tone of the friendly, and it sounded the death knell for it as a contest.
Yet England had been much the better team before then and they were able to coast thereafter. How many definite first-choice players were in the starting lineup? Probably three – Harry Maguire (who, bizarrely, was booed before kick-off by the home crowd), Declan Rice and Raheem Sterling. And so it was pleasing for Southgate to see Ollie Watkins, making his first England start, open the scoring on the half-hour and advance his claim to be Harry Kane’s understudy with a polished all-round performance.
Jude Bellingham, meanwhile, reinforced the richness of his promise in midfield and Jack Grealish enjoyed himself off the left – all strutting confidence on the ball. It was Grealish who teed up Sterling for the second goal in first-half stoppage time with a lovely first-time cut-back.
England have never lost against an African team and that was never going to change here. The second half, inevitably, was something of a non-event, the players broadly going through the motions as the home fans amused themselves by throwing paper planes, but Tyrone Mings provided a deserved gloss to the scoreline at the last when he headed home a corner from the substitute Phil Foden.
Southgate had finished the 2-1 win here against Switzerland on Saturday in a 4-3-3 and he stuck with the system for all of this game, eager to use his final friendly before the World Cup at the end of the year to fine-tune a Plan B to his preferred 3-4-3.
With Rice sitting in front of the back four, there was a nice balance to Southgate’s midfield against an Ivory Coast team that missed the injured Wilfried Zaha. England pressed high – Bellingham, in particular, a driving force – and Ivory Coast could not cope. The die felt cast even before Aurier’s dismissal. Ivory Coast simply could not get out.
Aurier had been booked for a cheap foul on Grealish in the 32nd minute; he was robbed by the England player and responded by pulling him back. And he would feel the blood surge to his head shortly afterwards.
Aurier challenged Watkins and went to ground, arguing loudly for a foul, even though it was nothing of the sort. But there was a confusion and amazement when the referee, Erik Lambrechts, reached for a second yellow card. Even Grealish argued against the decision, which seemed to say it all. He did not want to play against 10 men.
It was possible to wonder whether Lambrechts had not realised, in the heat of the moment, that he had already booked Aurier. A second yellow card in a friendly for dissent? Was it truly necessary? That said, Aurier’s furious reaction had put him on dangerous ground.
Grealish was eye-catching, enjoying plenty of room and making his moves, including one lovely shoulder drop in the early running that froze Jean Michaël Seri.
But it was Bellingham who went the closest to a goal in the opening quarter, playing a slick give-and-go with Sterling inside the area before seeing his shot flick off Badra Ali Sangaré and come back off the post.
The breakthrough had been advertised and when it came, it was all about the persistence and quick footwork of Sterling. Wearing the captain’s armband with Kane rested, Sterling chased a Grealish pass up the inside left channel only for Eric Bailly to cut it out and prod clear. No matter. Sterling hoovered up the loose ball and ran at Aurier, unnerving him, before crossing low for Watkins, who had a tap-in. Aurier’s attempt at a challenge was poor while Bailly allowed the cross to go through his legs.
England had a glut of chances before the interval, with Grealish, Sterling, Rice and Bellingham again going close. Sterling’s goal followed a nice touch and lay-off by Watkins. With defenders backing off, Sterling burst through to shoot and, when Sangaré pushed the ball up and away, Grealish knew exactly where his Manchester City teammate was.
Lambrechts had to reverse a penalty award at the start of the second half, VAR showing the Ivory Coast substitute Fousseny Coulibaly had played the ball rather than Bellingham. And Ivory Coast’s misery was summed up when Simon Deli blazed their only chance high from close range after a 77th-minute free-kick.
