England 1-0 Croatia: Sterling Makes Breakthrough1 min read

Gareth Southgate’s England took on Croatia in their first game of the Euro 2020 campaign.

The Three Lions came with the advantage of playing a youthful squad in front of home fans at Wembley, while Croatia fielded a team not too dissimilar to the World Cup.

England pressed in the opening minutes and almost made a breakthrough with an early attempt by Phil Foden. After a through ball from Raheem Sterling, the Manchester City starlet curled the ball goal-wards, only for it to clip off the post back into play.

For most of the half, the home side shared majority of the possession with Croatia displaying a few bouts of attacking prowess.

The Croats had their first solid chance close to half time, but a solid display by Tyrone Mings prevented the visitors from taking the lead.

The first half ended 0-0 with England showing more thirst for the ball.

Second Half

Even though England held most of the possession, it felt like the momentum slowed down.

Despite this, England made the breakthrough in the 57^th minute after Kalvin Phillips fed a through-ball to Sterling, who shot the ball passed the Croatia keeper.

A few minutes later, England had another solid chance as the ball was squared to Harry Kane in the box. Unfortunately, he missed and collided into the post. For a moment there was an injury scare for the Lions’ captain, however he pulled through.

Croatia had a few chances with Ivan Perisic looking like the main threat for them, going forward.

However, England’s defence managed to contain Croatia’s attack and the match ended 1-0 to the hosts.

Source of Image: UEFA EURO 2020 via Twitter