Tammy Abraham, Jack Grealish and talking points from England’s win over Andorra
Tammy Abraham was rewarded for his fine start to life at Roma.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.England continued their near-perfect push to qualify for the 2022 World Cup as they eased to victory in Andorra.
A 5-0 win means Gareth Southgate’s side maintain their four-point lead at the top of Group I with three qualifiers remaining.
Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the major talking points from the comfortable victory in the heart of the Pyrenees.
No Kane, Tammy’s gain
With captain Harry Kane rested, Southgate opted to hand Tammy Abraham a first cap in nearly a year following his fine start to the season at Roma. While Leeds forward Patrick Bamford was unable to grasp the opportunity to impress in the home win over Andorra, Abraham grabbed his second international goal. The battle to be understudy to Kane is heating up and Abraham will be hoping this keeps him at the front of the queue.
Building from the back
While the goalscorers are always going to be highlighted in a 5-0 win, this was a momentous night for the England defence. The Three Lions set a national record with their 12th clean sheet of 2021, their most in a calendar year. This shut-out saw them surpass the record set by Gordon Banks and co in the World Cup-winning year of 1966 and it could be extended further with three games remaining between now and 2022.
Referee first
History was made as Kateryna Monzul became the first woman to referee an England game. The 40-year-old Ukrainian has prior experience of officiating men’s football but this was the first time the Three Lions have had a match overseen by a female. Monzul’s night was not without the odd moment of controversy but she managed to keep a lid on things when they could have got away from her at times.
Andorra get their Phil
Phil Foden may not have got on the scoresheet but his performance was the most eye-catching of the evening. The Manchester City man was playing in a deeper role than usual and was picking passes for fun. Roy Keane, in the ITV Sport studio, likened Foden to a quarterback, the highlight of his night arguably the fine ball over the top of the Andorra defence which saw Bukayo Saka put England 2-0 up.
Jack the lad
Southgate had recently called on Jack Grealish to add goals to his game with England and the £100million man finally opened his account here. Having already won a penalty after coming off the bench, Grealish collected a fine throw from goalkeeper Sam Johnstone before showing composure and slotting home. He will be hoping to return to the starting line-up for the Hungary game at Wembley on Tuesday night having now grabbed his first goal.