England cruised past Iran in their opening game of their group, beating the Asian Side 6-2 at the Khalifa International Stadium.
England took control of the game from the second minute of the game, as the three lions aimed to begin their campaign with a win.
They had the first chance of the game in the 8th minute with a set piece but Harry Maguire's left footed shot flew to the side netting.
Iran were dealt with a serious injury blow in the 20th minute as First choice Shotstopper Beiravend had to be subbed off due to a head collision in the air with fellow teammates Majid Hosseini.
Despite the drama, England kept pushing for the first goal and they came so close in the 32nd minute, with Maguire's header smacking the crossbar.
It didn't come back to haunt them though, as Jude Bellingham rose high to meet Luke Shaw's cross before powering a beautiful header past the stand in keeper just 3 minutes later, drawing the first blood of the game.
The Three Lions then fired two goals in quick succession in the closing stages of the half, the first through Bukayo Saka and the second coming from Raheem Sterling after meeting Harry Kane's delivery, helping England to a 3-0 lead before half time.
After the break, England continued their dominance as they kept the pressure on their opponents.
In the 62nd minute, Sterling was on hand to set up Saka for his second of the night, hitting a shot which took a deflection before moving to the bottom corner.
Mehdi Taremi grabbed one back for Iran 3 minutes later, meeting a great throughball from Ali Gholizadeh before firing his shot past Pickford.
It became a free for all for England in the 71st minute as Marcus Rashford, who hadn't been in the field for barely a minute, popped up to slide his shot past Hossein.
Jack Grealish rounded up the scoring for England in the 89th minute, tucking home from close range after receiving an unselfish pass from Callum Wilson.
There was still time for Iran to grab one more goal, as John Stones brought down Taremi in the penalty box, with the forward converting it to round up the match.
With a superior goal difference, England sit at the top of Group B after their big win but could change after the result from USA and Wales match later on today.
Iran meanwhile, are at the bottom of the group.
Comments
Post a Comment