Gareth Southgate praised Trent Alexander-Arnold for buying into England’s midfield experiment and showing what he was capable of in the comfortable win away to Malta.
The 24-year-old may be an established star at Liverpool but he has often flattered to deceive with the national team, with intense competition at right-back restricting opportunities.
Alexander-Arnold struggled in a midfield against Andorra when Southgate tried him there in September 2021, but things worked far better in Malta as he won just his 19th cap on Friday evening.
The England star had a hand in all three first-half goals, including curling home superbly either side of Ferdinando Apap’s own goal and a Harry Kane penalty.
Substitute Callum Wilson completed a 4-0 win with a spot-kick of his own but this was Alexander-Arnold’s night as Southgate’s side continued their winning start to Euro 2024 qualification.
“Inevitably a lot of what happens is going to be a little bit dependent on his club,” the England boss said.
“The fact that he’s been playing partly in there with the ball, albeit a bit deeper, I think has helped his transition tonight.
“What was pleasing tonight, he’s getting used to receiving in tight areas with his back to goal, with players behind him.
“Whereas he’s used to receiving on the touchline, with the play in front of him, and he was very comfortable doing that.
“Look, I’ve got no questions in my head he can do it. It’s just learning some nuances of the role, without the ball especially very different for him.
“But he’s very keen to do it. He’s enjoyed the sort of project, if you like.
“We talked about it about four weeks ago on the phone, and I think he’s been excited by it and, yeah, he showed exactly what we think he could be capable of. He gives us something different to our other midfield players.”
This was a far more simple night for England compared to their last trip to Malta, when a drab, goalless first half against the limited hosts saw the travelling support turn on the team.
Southgate’s side have come a long way in the six intervening years and there was never any danger of their 100 per cent Euro 2024 qualification record slipping in their third Group C match.
“Of course we know we have the quality to win the games, but it’s about your mentality then and I thought that was excellent right from the start,” Southgate said.
“We tried to balance looking at a few things with some experienced players that give you leadership on the pitch and set the tone. That’s how they’ve trained all week.
“In particular when we lost the ball, the reaction to winning it back was a sign that the team were in a good place mentally.
“Then of course some really good quality for the first couple of goals, especially, so yeah, we’ve made it look fairly straightforward.
“That, as we know from last time, here isn’t always the case!
“We’ve been able to look at a few things, we’ve been able to get players on, we’ve been able to get some players off, so very pleased with the night.”
England now turn their attention to Monday’s home game North Macedonia after preventing Malta – ranked 172nd in the world – from having a shot in their box, never mind an attempt on goal.
Head coach Michele Marcolini said: “I think that we don’t shoot on goal because England for 90 minutes pressed very high and didn’t give us the chance to play easy. Never, never.
“To be honest, the difference physically was clear. To build the action easily, we cannot, to be honest.
“We are sorry about that but at the end we have to be honest and say that this kind of match for us with this kind of behaviour from the opponent it’s very tough.
“When you play with this difference between the teams, you have to hope that the opponent comes here a little bit calmer or they take the match easily.
“But this didn’t happen today because England has an amazing attitude on the pitch from the first minute until the end.”
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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