Raheem Sterling provided a much-needed spark and underlined his status as one of Gareth Southgate’s undroppables, as England beat the Ivory Coast 3-0 on a forgettable night at Wembley.
For the second time in four days, an England friendly felt all the more flat for the drama in the evening’s World Cup qualifiers, but Sterling elevated a one-sided contest with two moments of class to continue his fine form for England.
The winger made England’s opening goal by jinxing past Serge Aurier and nutmegging another defender with a low cross that Ollie Watkins tapped in at the back post for his second international goal.
Moments after Aurier was dismissed for a second booking, Sterling scored England’s second on the stroke of half-time, sweeping home Jack Grealish’s cross after his initial shot was saved by goalkeeper Badra Sangare.
Tyrone Mings headed home from a corner in stoppage-time to add deserved gloss to the scoreline, after the second half had come to resemble a training game for England at an increasingly bored Wembley.
Grealish was lively and Jude Bellingham, who started at No10 with the Man City pair either side of him, oozed class, but there was otherwise relatively little to learn for Southgate, particularly after the visitors were reduced to ten men.
If the manager can take anything from this occasion, it was a reminder that Sterling is central to the way his England side play and, as at the European Championship, is so often the player to make the difference.
His match-winning display was made all the more significant because Sterling began the night as England captain for only the third time, with Harry Kane coming off the bench on the hour.
His performance contrasted neatly with Ivorian captain Aurier, who let his country down on the night. Sterling came through for his.
Maguire booed on England return
A strange aspect of the night was the smattering of boos for Harry Maguire when the Manchester United defender was named in the XI.
There were even jeers at Maguire’s early touches from the Wembley crowd, which will only increase the scrutiny on the struggling centre-half.
Maguire is in the midst of the worst club form of his career and sections of the United fanbase have turned on him at points this season.
But he has been outstanding in an England shirt for over a year, and did not deserve this reaction at a stadium where he was so nearly immortalised with his country over the summer.
Aurier idiocy ruins contest
Former Tottenham defender Aurier was back at Wembley for the first time since the 2021 Carabao Cup Final.
Aurier’s reputation has been somewhat rehabilitated since he left Spurs in August because his replacements in north London, Matt Doherty and Emerson Royal, have been such disappointments.
So perhaps the right-back’s disastrous performance was a welcome reminder of why Spurs ultimately decided it was worth paying off the final year of Aurier’s contract.
Having been beaten by Sterling for the first goal, Aurier was given his marching orders for dissent after appearing to be dragged down by Ben White.
Being sent off in the first half of any friendly is irresponsible but doubly so as captain. And for dissent.
Aurier’s idiocy ruined the game as a contest, ensuring an already one-sided match became a procession.
Within moments of his dismissal, Sterling struck to make it 2-0, ensuring England had a cushion going into the second half.
