ENGLAND 3, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 0
Eleven days before Euro 24 kicks off, England warmed up with a friendly win against Bosnia and Herzegovina at St James’ Park.
After a lukewarm goalless opening period, Gareth Southgate’s shadow side turned on the style in the second half.
England, who began with two or possibly three starters likely for their Euro opener, broke the deadlock on the hour with a first goal, a penalty from ex-Manchester City striker Cole Palmer.
And they sealed victory with two late goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Kane’s 63rd goal for England.
With Southgate due to reduce his squad from 33 to 26, the friendly enabled Southgate to run the rule over squad members on the fringe and in danger of failing to make the cut.
Embed from Getty ImagesSouthgate was delighted and took positives from the game.
He said: “I was pleased with the intensity of the game. It was important for all the players from a physical aspect and playing against a back five which we could play against in our first two games when we need to find solution.
“The scoreline reflected the performance and it was a good night.”
Southgate praised a number of his fringe players, Eberechi Eze for the way he started the game and glided past opponents, Conor Gallagher for his work with the ball, Palmer for his first England goal, Adam Wharton for replicating what he does in training and Jack Grealish with his impressive cameo from the bench.
He also discussed reducing the squad with seven players to miss out.
Southgate explained: “They will be fair and right decisions which will always be subjective.
“It is to balance what we need in all areas of the pitch and not the best individuals, but positions. We have good options.
“Some players needed minutes and they will need minutes on Friday. It is a case of spinning a lot of plates.”
It was all change for England with Champions League winner Jude Bellingham and the players who featured in the FA Cup not featuring, the likes of Phil Foden, John Stones and Kobbie Mainoo.
In addition, Bukayo Saka, Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Anthony Gordon were ruled out through injury as Palmer and Eberechi Eze both made their first starts for the Three Lions.
Injuries to Maguire and Shaw forced Southgate into a new-look defence with only Jordan Pickford and captain-for-the-night Kieran Trippier remaining from the usual back line.
Elsewhere, Alexander-Arnold started in midfield and Ollie Watkins was up front as many of the squad players were given the change to impress.
It was also the first time since 1994 there was no player from either Manchester club, Arsenal or Spurs in the starting line-up.
The Bosnian side included Sheffield United’s Anel Ahmedhodzic while on the bench was former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko.
Ollie Watkins had the first chance of the night in the ninth minute as he burst free before his shot was blocked by keeper Nikola Vasilj.
However, the Aston Villa front man was being hauled back and, had he gone to ground, he would surely have been awarded a penalty.
England had another clear-cut opening just short of the half hour from a corner as Eze’s effort was kept out by the legs of Vasilj.
Bosnia had a chance to snatch the lead shortly before half time after Marc Guehl was caught out.
Haris Hajradinovic capitalised but his shot deflected off Lewis Dunk and flew narrowly wide with Pickford scampering across his goal.
It was a disappointing opening period. Though England enjoyed 69 per cent possession, they managed only five goal attempts while their opponents had only one.
Palmer had a decent chance soon after the restart, but his shot was deflected just wide for a corner.
The breakthrough came just short of the hour when England were awarded a penalty following a VAR check which confirmed Konsa’s shirt had been pulled by Ajax’s Benjamin Tahirovic.
Palmer stepped up to score from the spot, his first goal for the senior men’s England team.
That was followed by five substitutions from Southgate as Trippier, Guehl, Palmer, Watkins and Eze were replaced by debutants Wharton and Jarrad Branthwaite; James Maddison, Harry Kane and Grealish.
Kane almost made an immediate impact, making a great turn before unleashing a piledrive from the edge of the box which Vasilj had to beat away.
Southgate then made a sixth change, Lewis Dunk making way for Liverpool’s Joe Gomez.
England saved the best until last with two goals in the last five minutes.
Grealish floated a cross from the left to the far side of the box for Alexander-Arnold to volley into the far corner, his fourth goal for England.
That was quickly followed by Kane’s 63rd goal for England after Jarrod Bowen’s initial shot hit team-mate Konsa and ricocheted to Kane who squeezed a shot past Vasilj as it trickled over the line.
The final stats underlined how much England were in control as they enjoyed 70.5 per cent possession and had 25 goal attempts to one from their opponents.
They head home to Wembley on Friday to play Iceland in their final game before they kick off their Euro campaign against Serbia.
Report by Tony Bugby