It was down to England’s consistency and the paucity of the opposition in World Cup qualifying Group K that there was zero jeopardy about this occasion. Thomas Tuchel’s team can only beat what is in front of them and they had done that with sufficient regularity to guarantee their place at the finals next summer with two matches to spare.
It made for the question. Could they do it on a soggy midweek night when most of the people outside their camp did not care? The answer was yes, even if it was not a performance or an occasion to quicken the pulse or live for any length of time in the memory. The serious business is to come.
