International Friendly Round-up: England beat Wales 3-0; Ivory Coast draw against Belgium

Dominic-Calvert Lewin is truly enjoying his best days as a footballer currently as he scored on his England debut against Wales on Thursday night.

Conor Coady and Danny Ings also scored their first England goals as Gareth Southgate’s side secured a 3-0 win over Wales in a friendly at Wembley.

The in-form Calvert-Lewin after hitting nine goals in seven games for Everton, opened the scoring after 26 minutes when he headed home a cross by Jack Grealish.

Wolves center-back Coady doubled the advantage for England early in the second half, scoring his first goal in 112 games for club and country when he poked Kieran Trippier’s free-kick beyond Wayne Hennessey.

Danny Ings completed the scoring with a close-range overhead kick after substitute Tyrone Mings had headed a corner back across goal.

Ings’ goal capped a satisfying night for Southgate, whose preparations for the game were again disrupted when Jadon Sancho, Ben Chilwell, and Tammy Abraham became the latest England players to breach coronavirus guidelines over the weekend.

Watch how the new England boys reacted to their call up to the first team

Related: International Friendlies Round-up: Olivier Giroud scores twice to become France’s second top scorer

Gareth Southgate was full of praise for Calvert-Lewin and Grealish after the game.

“Excellent,” he says of Calvert-Lewin’s performance. “Really, very good. I thought he had an excellent presence. His runs are a threat, he presses well, and he obviously took his goal well.

“I thought he could be really pleased. He’s an all-round centre-forward, and I’ve always liked his general play. It’s the goals he’s getting now that have made him another level of player.”

On Grealish, the England manager says: “I thought his work with the ball was very good. We know he draws those fouls, he’s comfortable receiving in tight areas. Again, I thought it was a (full) debut that he can be really pleased with.”

Stats and facts from the match (Backed by Opta)

• England have won six consecutive matches against Wales for the first time since a run of seven between March 1908 and March 1914.
• Wales suffered their worst defeat against England since May 1973, also a 3-0 defeat.
• Three players all scored their first England goals in this game (Calvert-Lewin, Coady and Ings). It’s the first time that’s happened since June 1963 against Switzerland (Tony Kay, Johnny Byrne and Jimmy Melia).
• Dominic Calvert-Lewin became the 188th player to score on his England debut and the first Everton player to do so since Fred Pickering in 1964.
• Conor Coady ended a run of 111 games for club and country with a goal, scoring his first goal since April 2018 for Wolves vs Bolton in a Championship match. It was the first time he’d had two shots in a match since March 2017 for Wolves vs Reading.
• There were just 54 caps between the players in England starting XI before kick-off, the fewest for an international since May 1980, when the XI for a game against Australia had just 46 caps between them.
• Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier captained England for the first time, becoming the first outfield player since David Beckham in June 2008 to captain England while playing for a non-English club.

Ivory Coast halts Belgium winning streak in a 1-1 draw

Ivory Coast earned a 1-1 draw with a second-string Belgium side in a friendly on Thursday, after a late equaliser from the penalty spot on Thursday night ended a run of 12 successive victories for the top team in the world rankings.

Michy Batshuayi converted from close range to give Belgium a 53rd-minute lead, but Franck Kessie equalised for the visitors from the spot with four minutes remaining.

The Belgians didn’t feature their regulars, who they need fresh ahead of Sunday’s Nations League clash against England at Wembley but went ahead when Batshuayi converted from point-blank range at the second attempt after being set up by Alexis Saelemakers, one of five debutants used by coach Roberto Martinez.

Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha continued to trouble the home defence, however, and was fouled by debutant Sebastiaan Bornauw in the box, leading to Ivory Coast’s late penalty.

It was a first international in 11 months for the African side who next play Japan in Utrecht on Tuesday.

Belgium’s game against England on Sunday is followed by another Nations League match in Iceland on Wednesday.

International Friendly results

Thursday, 8th of October 2020

• Uzbekistan 1-2 Iran
• South Africa 1-1 Namibia
• Russia 1-2 Sweden
• Belgium 1-1 Ivory Coast
• England 3-0 Wales