When Luke Shaw lifted a delightful ball over the top of the Czech Republic defence during the early stages of England's 1-0 Euro 2020 win on Friday, Raheem Sterling was away.
Of course he was. The Manchester City's forwards intelligent, incisive movement has been a vital asset for club and country over the past five years – a period in which he has become one of his country's most decorated footballers in terms of major honours.
But what would happen next?
Could it be as bad as that time he blazed over two clear chances in the Manchester derby on a day City were 2-0 up and set to win the league against their bitter rivals and lost 3-2?
Maybe it would end up as wince-inducing as the open goal he missed when his club crashed out of the Champions League against Lyon in 2020 at the quarter-final stage, or the two-yard miss that persuaded Pep Guardiola to immediately substitute him at Burnley two years earlier?
Or the full campaign at Russia 2018 when he did not find the net during England's run to the semi-finals?
Yes, Sterling misses chances. Quite a lot of quite good ones.
According to Opta, he scored 11 but missed 19 of the 'big chances' that fell his way for the Premier League champions in all competitions last season. It was part of the reason Guardiola increasingly left him on the bench.
But Sterling is the sort of player who always comes back for more. The sort who never hides – a quality that starts to look increasingly valuable amid the vicious maelstrom that is England at a major tournament.
Joy delayed but not denied
As it happened, the shot was not one to fit in with that catalogue of misses. Sterling dispatched a deft lob over Tomas Vaclik and was unfortunate to see the effort ricochet clear off the post, continuing a strange quirk for England games in this tournament. In the early knockings versus Croatia and Scotland, Phil Foden and John Stones each rattled uprights.
As was the case in both of those games, even the dour draw with Scotland – where Sterling created the best chance of the night for Mason Mount and had a reasonable late penalty claim rejected – the forward was a nuisance.
Gareth Southgate's decision to bow to the Jack Grealish clamour and give Bukayo Saka a surprise start gave England a little more vibrancy, also allowing Sterling to pester the opposition defence more centrally and ensure Harry Kane was a less isolated figure. The England captain went close but remains without a goal in this tournament. Only one player has manged to score for the Three Lions.
You might struggle to remember Sterling was the matchwinner on the opening weekend against Croatia. Calls for Grealish and the perplexingly sidelined Jadon Sancho have left Sterling as a casualty in the XIs of many a pundit and fan.
The 26-year-old's vile treatment by a section of the tabloid press has been well documented. But Sterling scepticism goes far beyond such reactionary outposts.
After his second-half strike sunk Croatia and sent England on their way to top spot in the group, the BBC television interviewer asked whether Sterling had justified his place in the team, despite being the Three Lions' top scorer from open play since Russia 2018.
The Athletic, very much the antithesis of the UK red tops, ran an article in the build-up to the Czech Republic game where eight of its writers picked their England XI. Two featured Sterling.
The annoying one
He is, at times, an annoying footballer. That is not just down to the catalogue of horror misses outlined above.
A source told Stats Perform last year that an aspect of improvement identified for Sterling by Guardiola's coaching staff was his control of the ball, which seems a staggeringly basic thing for a star forward in a high-end football team. There was an example of this when he sold Kalvin Phillips short with a very routine pass after half-time, forcing the Leeds United midfielder into a foul for which he was fortunate not to be booked.
But again, we return to that capacity to make things happen, which feels vital for an England team constructing 90-minute portions where not much happens.
When things do happen, it is thrilling and you wish they happened more often.
Saka tore at the Czech Republic in the 12th minute – left-back Jan Boril will not reflect too fondly upon having shared a pitch with the livewire Arsenal youngster.
His eventual delivery found its way to Grealish, who clipped a delightful left-footed cross to the back post. Sterling couldn't miss. Well, as discussed above, he could. But he didn't, nodding home to stand tall in a time of need for Southgate once more.
Saka and Grealish hogged the initial post-match conversation, not undeservedly. Stones and the returning Harry Maguire marshalled the backline superbly and Luke Shaw impressed going backwards and forwards.
Three clean sheets out of three are not to be sniffed at. But England's tendency for lulls in-game and to trudge through some stodgy moments still feels regrettable given the attacking talent at Southgate's disposal.
The Czech Republic were beaten 5-0 in the opening qualifier for Euro 2020 and England looked a team to be feared in a way they don't right now. Sterling, in red-hot form, scored a hat-trick.
Whether his national team are soaring high or quietly plugging, time and again he has shown his worth.
There are plenty of causes for concern around this England team. The man who has scored the winning goal in each of their victories and always makes life miserable for opposition defenders is absolutely not one of them.
Stop dropping Sterling from the XIs you put on Twitter. It makes you look silly.
Hull City 0-2 Sheffield United: Hamer and McCallum goals send Blades third
Sheffield United continued their fine start to the Championship with a comfortable 2-0 win away to Hull City.
Goals from Gustavo Hamer and Sam McCallum were enough to give Chris Wilder's side victory and send them up to third in the table.
The home side made an encouraging start to the game but fell behind after a stunning Blades counter-attack, with Callum O'Hare driving forward before playing in Hamer, who gave keeper Ivor Pandur no chance with a neat finish.
Hull went close to equalising through Abdulkadir Omar's free-kick, but he was thwarted by a flying save from Michael Cooper in the Sheffield United goal.
The away side doubled their advantage in the second half as substitute McCallum swept in a fine effort from Andre Brooks' cutback.
Marvin Mehlem nearly handed the Tigers a way back into the encounter, but his header crashed against the crossbar, leaving Hull 19th in the table, still without a league win this campaign.
Data debrief: Blades make best start in 12 years
With three wins and two draws under their belt in the Championship, Sheffield United will be proud of how they have adapted to life back in the second tier.
It marks their best start to a campaign since the 2012-13 season, which saw them go unbeaten in their first 16 games in League One.
Wilder also continued his good record as Blades boss at MKM stadium, winning a fourth successive match away to Hull after losing in February 2018, in his first spell in charge.
Borussia Dortmund 4-2 Heidenheim: Adeyemi stars with brace to inspire win
Karim Adeyemi scored twice and set up another goal as Borussia Dortmund earned a 4-2 victory over visitors Heidenheim on Friday.
Adeyemi first set up Donyell Malen, who drilled his low shot through Kevin Muller to give the hosts the lead in the 12th minute.
The 22-year-old then doubled their advantage six minutes later with his first goal after completing a textbook break five minutes later.
Heidenheim briefly cut the deficit with Marvin Pieringer's powerful header after 39 minutes, but Dortmund restored their two-goal cushion before the break with Adeyemi's low drive wrongfooting the goalkeeper.
The visitors set up a nervy finish after being awarded a 74th-minute penalty for a foul by Niklas Sule on Mikkel Kaufmann, with Maximilian Breunig confidently hitting the back of the net.
But Dortmund earned a spot kick themselves in stoppage time thanks to Omar Traore's handball, and Emre Can coolly slotted in to make it 4-2.
Data Debrief: Home advantage
While it looked like Dortmund may be in for a nervy ending after Heidenheim's late penalty, that was not the case, and it means they extend an impressive home record.
The Black and Yellow are unbeaten in 37 Bundesliga home games on a Friday since a 1-0 loss to Schalke in January 2004, which is a league record, level with Werder Bremen between 1984 and 1991).
Dortmund are unbeaten so far this campaign, but Heidenheim's six-match winning run in all competitions is now at an end.
Vancouver Whitecaps v San Jose Earthquakes: Gauld not expecting easy game against struggling visitors
Ryan Gauld says Vancouver Whitecaps will not treat the visit of San Jose Earthquakes as an "easy game" as they look to get back to winning ways in MLS.
Vancouver have lost just one of their last eight league matches but fired a blank for just the second time at home this season in a 0-0 draw with FC Dallas last time out.
They sit sixth in the Western Conference, but a win, coupled with defeats for Seattle Sounders and Colorado Rapids, could see them move up the table.
Gauld is prepared for a tough fight though, despite how it looks on paper.
"We've got to treat it like any other game," said the captain. "They're at the bottom, but they've still got a lot of good players that can hurt us if we're not at our best.
"If you look at the standings, someone can say that [Saturday] is an easy game. But it's not. We need to play a very good game."
San Jose have won only five games this season, though one of those came in their last road match, beating high-flying Real Salt Lake 2-0.
Interim head coach Ian Russell is hoping they can build on that result as they try to finish the season on a high.
"It's going to be a good road trip for us to play quality opponents," Russell said. "It's a place where we won last year, and we'll look to get a result again.
"We need to start better in Vancouver than we did in our last game [against Minnesota United]. We have to go out on the front foot and try to put them under pressure. We have to get points on the road now, and it's going to be a really good test for us."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Vancouver Whitecaps – Mathias Laborda
Vancouver's goalless draw with Dallas on Saturday marked just the second time they failed to score in a home match this regular season (0-0 vs. Austin on May 4).
It was not for lack of trying though, as they had 21 shots (though just four on target). Mathias Laborda had five of those efforts, creating 0.4 expected goals, though only tested the goalkeeper with one of those.
San Jose Earthquakes – Ousseni Bouda
Ousseni Bouda scored the Earthquakes' lone goal in their defeat to Minnesota United on August 31.
Bouda is the seventh different player to score one of San Jose's last seven MLS goals dating back to June 19, as no 'Quakes player has more than one goal in league play in that time.
MATCH PREDICTION: VANCOUVER WHITECAPS WIN
The Whitecaps ended a five-match winless run against San Jose (D2 L3) with a 2-0 road win on March 9. Vancouver have only recorded consecutive wins over the Earthquakes once in the last nine years, doing so during the 2018 season.
Vancouver have lost only one of their last eight regular season matches (W5 D2) following a scoreless draw with Dallas on Saturday. The Whitecaps have kept consecutive clean sheets in league play for the first time since October 2023.
However, San Jose defeated Real Salt Lake, 2-0, in their last away match on August 24, just the fourth win in the 'Quakes' last 42 away matches in all competitions. San Jose last won consecutive away matches in all competitions in July 2019, with the second of those being a 3-1 win in Vancouver.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Vancouver Whitecaps – 61.8%
Draw – 20.2%
San Jose Earthquakes – 18%
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