England 4-0 Bulgaria: Hat Trick Hero Defoe takes the plaudits as England trounce Bulgaria
The Three Lions made light work of the Bulgarians at Wembley Stadium. A hat trick from England's number nine, Jermain Defoe and a first for new boy Adam Johnson allowed England to run out as easy winners in their opening tie of their UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.
The England side were never expected to lose this one and over the full 90+4 minutes they were easily the better side, as the scoreline demonstrated. Winning four-nil at any level is a walk in the park. But England didn’t look like they were all-conquering - not until the second Defoe goal just after the hour.
Fabio Capello, the England supremo, will be happy to have won by such a comprehensive margin in front of a good sized crowd at the home of English football. After this summer’s World Cup Finals, the Italian manager has been under intense scrutiny because of the nation’s poor performance. This win will help solidify his position as the right man for the job in the microscope that is the English tabloid press.
It didn’t take the Three Lions long to get on the score sheet with Jemain Defoe scoring on three minutes with a half volley from five yards out. This was after a beautifully flighted pass by Wayne Rooney to Ashley Cole. This allowed Cole to have a fantastic attempt on goal, both putting the Bulgarian keeper Nicholay Mihailov under pressure on the near post, as well as getting the ball across the keeper to Defoe.
For the next hour, the England side had the majority of the possession but didn’t look like scoring. The Bulgarians, despite their lack of quality in the final third, did put the young England keeper Joe Hart under pressure on a number of occasions, but he kept his side in the game with some great goalkeeping.
England’s second goal came directly from a fine piece of Hart goalkeeping, as he deftly parried the ball out for Gareth Barry to latch onto it and pass to Rooney who saw Defoe running in to space on the edge of the Bulgarian penalty area. With only one touch before, the diminutive Tottenham Hotspur striker threaded the ball through Mihailov’s legs to double the Three Lions lead on 61 minutes.
The withdrawal of Arsenal’s Theo Walcott on 74 minutes was the catalyst to lead the England charge. Walcott had worked tirelessly for almost an hour on both flanks but was flagging. Capello saw that a change was needed and introduced Manchester City’s Adam Johnson.
Almost instantaneously, the young winger was played on by Steven Gerrard. The England skipper passed the ball right into path of Johnson on the right hand side of the Bulgarian box. With only a little space, he hit a sweet curler at the top left hand corner that just went wide. The England bench were holding their heads in their hands at Johnson’s wasted chance, but only three minutes later in almost the same angle but in a tighter position, the skilled winger found space but chose to try the bottom right corner and scored with Mihailov getting his foot to the ball as he moved the wrong way.
The game was totally finished off as Defoe scored his deserved hat trick. In an almost carbon copy of his second, the Spurs striker scored in the top right corner from the left of the penalty area as the Bulgarian keeper went down early to protect the area between his legs that Defoe had exploited for his second goal, but the hat trick hero received a knock on the ankle by the Bulgarian Ivan Ivanov for his troubles.
The game wasn’t without it’s lows for the England side. Michael Dawson, the Spurs center back who had traveled to the World Cup as a late addition after Rio Ferdinand had withdrawn through injury, was getting a rare start with John Terry absence along side Phil Jagielka of Everton. The new center back pairing were looking comfortable and fairly composed but on the slick pitch, the big defender went down with pressure from behind seriously twisting his knee in the process. The injury was so severe that that Dawson needed to be carried off the field on a stretcher.
The England team as a whole played well, as did the substitutes. Gary Cahill, the debutante, performed extremely well and looked very comfortable on the ball after his introduction. Johnson was superb and threatening whenever he got the ball.
However, the Bulgarian opposition weren’t the stiffest challenge for Capello’s men. The aging Bulgarians looked shell shocked after the second goal and devoid of invention in the final third. They were out muscled all over the pitch but for long periods they were well organised and despite the first goal didn’t look like conceding again.
After the early goal they were on the back foot and their inspirational players were kept quiet by a superior side. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the stamina to keep the attacking threat of the England side at bay.
England: Hart, Glen Johnson, Jagielka, Dawson (Cahill 56), Ashley Cole, Walcott (Adam Johnson 74), Gerrard, Barry, Milner, Defoe (Young 87), Rooney.
Subs Not Used: Foster, Gibbs, Carrick, Bent.
Goals: Defoe 3, 61, Adam Johnson 83, Defoe 86.
Bulgaria: Mihailov, Ivanov, Milanov, Manolev (Minev 66), Iliyan Stoyanov, Yankov, Angelov, Stiliyan Petrov, Martin Petrov, Bojinov (Rangelov 63), Popov (Peev 79).
Subs Not Used: Vladislav Stoyanov, Kamburov, Domovchiyski, Genchev.
Booked: Popov, Milner.
Att: 73,246.
Ref: Viktor Kassai (Hungary).
The England side were never expected to lose this one and over the full 90+4 minutes they were easily the better side, as the scoreline demonstrated. Winning four-nil at any level is a walk in the park. But England didn’t look like they were all-conquering - not until the second Defoe goal just after the hour.
Fabio Capello, the England supremo, will be happy to have won by such a comprehensive margin in front of a good sized crowd at the home of English football. After this summer’s World Cup Finals, the Italian manager has been under intense scrutiny because of the nation’s poor performance. This win will help solidify his position as the right man for the job in the microscope that is the English tabloid press.
It didn’t take the Three Lions long to get on the score sheet with Jemain Defoe scoring on three minutes with a half volley from five yards out. This was after a beautifully flighted pass by Wayne Rooney to Ashley Cole. This allowed Cole to have a fantastic attempt on goal, both putting the Bulgarian keeper Nicholay Mihailov under pressure on the near post, as well as getting the ball across the keeper to Defoe.
For the next hour, the England side had the majority of the possession but didn’t look like scoring. The Bulgarians, despite their lack of quality in the final third, did put the young England keeper Joe Hart under pressure on a number of occasions, but he kept his side in the game with some great goalkeeping.
England’s second goal came directly from a fine piece of Hart goalkeeping, as he deftly parried the ball out for Gareth Barry to latch onto it and pass to Rooney who saw Defoe running in to space on the edge of the Bulgarian penalty area. With only one touch before, the diminutive Tottenham Hotspur striker threaded the ball through Mihailov’s legs to double the Three Lions lead on 61 minutes.
The withdrawal of Arsenal’s Theo Walcott on 74 minutes was the catalyst to lead the England charge. Walcott had worked tirelessly for almost an hour on both flanks but was flagging. Capello saw that a change was needed and introduced Manchester City’s Adam Johnson.
Almost instantaneously, the young winger was played on by Steven Gerrard. The England skipper passed the ball right into path of Johnson on the right hand side of the Bulgarian box. With only a little space, he hit a sweet curler at the top left hand corner that just went wide. The England bench were holding their heads in their hands at Johnson’s wasted chance, but only three minutes later in almost the same angle but in a tighter position, the skilled winger found space but chose to try the bottom right corner and scored with Mihailov getting his foot to the ball as he moved the wrong way.
The game was totally finished off as Defoe scored his deserved hat trick. In an almost carbon copy of his second, the Spurs striker scored in the top right corner from the left of the penalty area as the Bulgarian keeper went down early to protect the area between his legs that Defoe had exploited for his second goal, but the hat trick hero received a knock on the ankle by the Bulgarian Ivan Ivanov for his troubles.
The game wasn’t without it’s lows for the England side. Michael Dawson, the Spurs center back who had traveled to the World Cup as a late addition after Rio Ferdinand had withdrawn through injury, was getting a rare start with John Terry absence along side Phil Jagielka of Everton. The new center back pairing were looking comfortable and fairly composed but on the slick pitch, the big defender went down with pressure from behind seriously twisting his knee in the process. The injury was so severe that that Dawson needed to be carried off the field on a stretcher.
The England team as a whole played well, as did the substitutes. Gary Cahill, the debutante, performed extremely well and looked very comfortable on the ball after his introduction. Johnson was superb and threatening whenever he got the ball.
However, the Bulgarian opposition weren’t the stiffest challenge for Capello’s men. The aging Bulgarians looked shell shocked after the second goal and devoid of invention in the final third. They were out muscled all over the pitch but for long periods they were well organised and despite the first goal didn’t look like conceding again.
After the early goal they were on the back foot and their inspirational players were kept quiet by a superior side. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the stamina to keep the attacking threat of the England side at bay.
England: Hart, Glen Johnson, Jagielka, Dawson (Cahill 56), Ashley Cole, Walcott (Adam Johnson 74), Gerrard, Barry, Milner, Defoe (Young 87), Rooney.
Subs Not Used: Foster, Gibbs, Carrick, Bent.
Goals: Defoe 3, 61, Adam Johnson 83, Defoe 86.
Bulgaria: Mihailov, Ivanov, Milanov, Manolev (Minev 66), Iliyan Stoyanov, Yankov, Angelov, Stiliyan Petrov, Martin Petrov, Bojinov (Rangelov 63), Popov (Peev 79).
Subs Not Used: Vladislav Stoyanov, Kamburov, Domovchiyski, Genchev.
Booked: Popov, Milner.
Att: 73,246.
Ref: Viktor Kassai (Hungary).
