England 2 Nigeria 1: Harry Kane and Gary Cahill earn World Cup 2018 warm-up win at Wembley despite Alex Iwobi strike

1/42
Simon Johnson2 June 2018

First-half goals from Gary Cahill and Harry Kane were enough for England to seal a 2-1 victory over Nigeria at Wembley in the run-un to the 2018 World Cup.

With the biggest tournament in football kicking off this month, Gareth Southgate's men were full of energy in a vibrant first half as Cahill and Kane struck to give the Three Lions a deserved lead at the break.

The second half was a different affair as Alex Iwobi struck soon after the restart, but England were able to see out the win despite lacking the verve they displayed in the first half.

Raheem Sterling, however, was once again the man at the centre of negative attention, just when he needed a faultless outing at Wembley.

Sterling was shown a yellow card in the second half for diving in the area by referee Marco Guida.

Replays showed it was the correct decision and that the 23-year-old had tried to win a penalty by falling over keep Francis Uzoho before contact was made.

PA

It was the last thing he needed given the events of the past few days. If the criticism for getting a tattoo of an assault rifle on his right leg wasn't bad enough, then came the revelation that he reported a day late to the World Cup base.

There has been an element of sympathy for the level of hysteria aimed toward Sterling, but this was just foolish under the circumstances and especially as he'd looked so good to begin with.

PA

Understandably there was a lot of scrutiny on the England team sheet given this was the first of two friendlies ahead of the World Cup.

There were few surprises. For starters, everyone knows that the 3-5-2 system employed here is the one that Southgate is using this summer.

This was a strong line-up too and pointed towards what England are likely to look like against Tunisia on June 18.

In goal was Jordan Pickford, surely the man that will be between the posts in Russia and a number of other first choices players were on view too.

PA

Of the 11 who started the game against Nigeria, perhaps three players could be exchanged for somebody else.

Harry Maguire is still threatening Cahill's place in central defence, Danny Rose might be used instead of Ashley Young at left back and Jordan Henderson could come in for Eric Dier in midfield.

Southgate will have been pleased with what he saw in the first half, particularly the response from Sterling.

Getty Images

With the spotlight firmly upon him, Sterling needed a strong showing to remind everyone of the most positive aspects of his inclusion.

Time and time again he ran in behind the Nigeria backline at Wembley, perhaps the only thing missing was the end product.

One early opportunity, where he turned his marker brilliantly, was chipped wide and another before the break was hit just over.

There were other occasions where he was unable to find a team-mate with a cross, but on the whole it was encouraging, just like the Three Lions display as a whole.

Thanks to Cahill and Kane they went in at the break in complete control anyway and it looked like a comfortable, morale boosting, victory was in the offing.

Getty Images

Cahill had put England in front with a superb header into the top corner within seven minutes, while Kane drilled one past Uzoho from outside the area.

EPA

In truth Nigeria had been poor. One was starting to already fear for their prospects at the World Cup with their group containing Argentina, Iceland and Argentina.

But Gernot Ruhr's side were completely transformed in the second half, some strong words from the German must have been said.

It helped that Arsenal's Iwobi got them back into the contest within a couple of minutes of the restart.

REUTERS

He took his chance calmly after Odion Igahlo s initial shot came back off the woodwork and steered it into the corner.

The England midfield and backline which had been able to cruise for long periods were suddenly under pressure.

Southgate looked an unhappy man on the sidelines as the men in white struggled to match Nigeria's intensity.

In some ways this was a better test for England though and the way they plan to play later this month.

PA

For example, with their opponents now pressing them high up the pitch, the distribution of Kyle Walker as the right sided centre half was put far more to the test.

The same could be said for the deep lying midfielder Dier and on occasion, both were found wanting.

Despite all Nigeria's best efforts, Pickford didn't have much work to do to ensure Southgate's men won the game.

Five substitutions didn't help England maintain their early attacking flow but they will take on Costa Rica at Elland Road on Thursday with some foundations to build upon.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in