England wins 1-0 against Norway in a disappointing match

England vs Norway match review

LINEUPS –

ENGLAND–Hart;Stones,Jones,Cahill, Baines; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson, Wilshere; Sterling, Sturridge, Rooney.

NORWAY–yland,Nordtveit,Forren,Elabdellaoui,Linnes,Jenssen ,Johansen,Skjelbred,King ,Elyounoussi ,Daehli.

It was same story for the English national team as they scraped past Norway thanks to a second half Wayne Rooney penalty. The newly crowned England captain marked his debut with a goal.

This was particularly a one way affair as England hogged on majority of possession with harmless intentions. It was a drab 0-0 day but thanks to some zest and liveliness of Liverpool teen Raheem Sterling that the Three Lions won a penalty to save the blushes. The 19 year old was by far the best player on the pitch. The visitors were content to sit back and take anything on offer while on break. Mats Daehli was one of the bright sparks on the attacking front for the Scandinavians.

The midfield of Wilshere and Henderson was too hopeful of their attacking players to provide them with any sort of chance to display their creativity. Captain Rooney and his partner Daniel Sturridge were often left wanting in the Norway penalty half. It led Rooney to drop off to midfield to get any sort of creativity back in the game albeit without any success. Substitute and Arsenal new boy had some impact on the game with his tear away pace. Norway apart from their stout defending had nothing to write home about.

The focus was on the lowest attendance at the new Wembley spoke the volumes about the quality of football on offer. England looked unimaginative in the final third as their creative players looked completely out of their depth. A lot needs to be addressed by Roy Hodgson if he wants this team to qualify for Euro 2016 in France.