England almost certainly now have the points to qualify for the last 16. It is more than possible they win the group. But, make no mistake, this was a chastening night for Gareth Southgate and his men.
It could be dismissed as one of those random derby encounters, except Scotland did not play in that gung-ho underdog way. The best player on the field was their young midfielder Billy Gilmour, starting his first competitive game, and only removed after 76 minutes because he had run himself to a standstill. They created chances, and some good ones.
A Lyndon Dykes header after 62 minutes was cleared off the line by Reece James – closer than England ever got. Most of all, they handled England’s forwards, all the pressure, all that skill. It was kept at arm’s length. When Southgate introduced Jack Grealish after 63 minutes his arrival was cheered to the rafters. Equally when he removed Harry Kane 11 minutes later. Short memories, some people, but there you go.
Phil Foden (left) and Jack Grealish looked glum at full time after a frustrating stalemate against Scotland at Wembley
Scotland looked the far happier side at full time as they kept their hopes of progression to the next stage alive
Steve Clarke (left) looked delighted with the point but Gareth Southgate was left with plenty to ponder
Che Adams slashed a shot over on the angle and could perhaps have done better with the opportunity
Reece James had an opening on the edge of the box but fired narrowly over after fine work from Raheem Sterling
What has to be conceded is that England feel short. David Marshall made one real save, from a shot by Mason Mount, meaning Jordan Pickford saw more action. Equally the midfield pairing of Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips failed to spark as it did against Croatia. Steve Clarke set his team up smartly and England were stifled. Rice and Phillips were made to appear conservative. England got on the ball but did little with it. They lacked imagination which, for a roster of this talent, is criminal.
In the European Championship and World Cup, no team has ever failed to progress in the format in which 24 teams become 16, having collected four points. England have that now. Beat Czech Republic on Tuesday and they will win the group. Yet the optimism from the Croatian win has been challenged. There are problems. Kane did not fire, again. The midfield looked uninspiring.
If Scotland had better strikers they might have won. Having looked more than the sum of the parts in Russia, England look less again. Scotland celebrated as if they had won. Having so badly shaken the English sense of supremacy, maybe they did. England, indeed, are thinking again.
Gareth Southgate’s team is very big on nicknames. The Stockport Iniesta. The Yorkshire Pirlo. What was missing from the first-half here, though, was the 1996 Paul Gascoigne. A player who used his incredible talent to elevate England above Scotland the last time these nations met in a major international competition.
To be fair, England started slowly that day, too, and could have gone behind. Snap. Nothing quite as obvious as the penalty missed by Gary McAllister 25 years ago, but there was enough going on around Jordan Pickford’s goalmouth to trouble the hosts. Scotland had far more about them than Croatia last Sunday and in Billy Gilmour they had a midfield player bossing the game as much as Kalvin Phillips did five days ago.
MATCH FACTS AND GROUP STANDINGS:
ENGLAND:
Pickford, James, Stones, Mings, Shaw, Phillips, Rice, Foden (Grealish), Mount, Sterling, Kane (Rashford)
Subs not used:
Maguire, Henderson, Trippier, Ramsdale, Coady, Sancho, Calvert-Lewin, Chilwell, Johnstone, Bellingham
Bookings: McGinn, O’Donnell
SCOTLAND:
Marshall, McTominay, Hanley, Tierney, O’Donnell, Gilmour (Armstrong), McGinn, McGregor, Robertson, Adams (Nisbet), Dykes
Subs not used:
Christie, Gordon, Fleck, Cooper, Fraser, McLaughlin, Patterson,Hendry, Forrest, McKenna
Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz
England trail the Czech Republic in the group
James was also involved at the other end and cleared a Lyndon Dykes effort that may have been sneaking in
John Stones planted an early header onto the post and should have done better from the free leap in the box
David Marshal was well beaten and could only watch as the ball bounced off the meat of the post and back into play
Chelsea team-mates Billy Gilmour (left) and Mason Mount were involved in an entertaining battle in midfield
Jordan Pickford saved superbly from Stephen O’Donnell’s volley in what was Scotland’s best chance of the first half
Nobody was expecting cat and mouse, even so, to see Luke Shaw flattened by a challenge from Lyndon Dykes within ten seconds of the start – fairly, he took a blow to the hip, no foul – came as something of a surprise. This wasn’t a dirty game, though. The only booked in the first-half was John McGinn for dissent, complaining that an English foul had been missed. Scotland did a lot more than meet England with aggression and passion.
Steve Clarke is an impressive coach, Gilmour was an impressive selection and Scotland found a way to get behind England’s full-backs on several occasions. With more of a cutting edge in front of goal they could have made it count. What they would give for Kenny Dalglish now – or even a Duncan Ferguson.
After just four minutes right wing-back Stephen O’Donnell popped up with an excellent cross that fall to Che Adams, but the Southampton man scuffed his shot which was blocked before it could trouble Pickford.
Later, on the opposite flank, Andrew Robertson found space and crossed deep for O’Donnell to meet it, his shot forcing an excellent save from Pickford, his best of the tournament so far. The loose ball fell to Adams, but at a rush, and he could not get his header on target.
Phil Foden was slick on the ball but felt the physicality of the game with the Scots closing him down quickly
Raheem Sterling started brightly but struggled to have a real impact on the game in the opening 45 minutes
Declan Rice (left) and Tyrone Mings (right) cut frustrated figures as England battled to find an edge in the game
Yet this was better than expected from Scotland, not least because Clarke’s men did not approach the game in the harum-scarum manner of underdogs.
England had chances, of course, but were not allowed to dictate the play as hoped. Phil Foden may have styled his hair like Gascoigne but there is a difference between looking like the man and playing like him. Gascoigne was arguably the best player in the world in 1990; he scored one of England’s greatest goals in 1996; he ran the midfield in Rome when England drew there to qualify for the World Cup in 1997. He was more than just an image.
And yes, Foden reminds of him in flashes. But England needed that player who will seize the moment, seize the game and for 45 minutes nothing would come.
There was lovely work between Foden and Reece James after 11 minutes, ending with Mason Mount hitting a shot, deflected wide. From the corner, John Stone rose higher than any defender, but powered his corner against a post. Yes, it was a mighty jump, yes it was an inch or so away from being perfect, but he really should have done better, given the space.
Jack Grealish came off the bench and added more of an attacking spark but was well marshalled by the defence
Sterling had a frustrating night and England could not provide the Manchester City winger with consistent service
Billy Gilmour was outstanding in midfield and kept the ball superbly to take pressure off his side
The youngster took home man of the match and Scotland still have a chance with a Croatia game to come
A minute later, Raheem Sterling fed Mount, who missed at the near post, and a Harry Kane header from James’ cross went wide after 29 minutes, but England were not dominating as they had hoped. Worse, that header was Kane’s first touch in Scotland’s penalty area. With 28 minutes gone, he had touched the ball just seven times in all areas of the pitch.
Mount had a shot tipped round by David Marshall after 48 minutes as England attempted to prey on tiring Scottish legs but there was a restlessness in the stadium, a feeling that the hosts needed invention. Cameras panned to Jack Grealish on the substitutes bench. Might he ignite the spark?
Instead Kane came wide to the left and played a lovely ball in to James, who shot wastefully over. Would that have ended more happily, Grealish to Kane? The Aston Villa man warming up as Kane won a free-kick, which Foden took to little effect. This was proving far harder than England had imagined.