England see off Croatia in WC six-goal thriller
by Kickoff Reporter · KickOffEngland started their FIFA World Cup campaign in fine style after defeating Croatia 4-2 in Group L on Wednesday evening in Dallas.
Fixture: England v Croatia
Score: 4-2
Goalscorers: Kane (12', 42'), Bellingham (47'), Rashford (85') / Baturina (36'), Musa (45+5')
In a repeat of the 2018 semi-final, the Three Lions started and as always with the objective a second title but faced a team who always makes life difficult for them regardless of the occasion on show.
The Three Lions were up and running in the 12th minutes when Harry Kane beat Dominik Livakovic from the penalty spot following a foul on Noni Madueke by Luka Modric with the spot-kick re-taken due to encroachment and the goalkeeper moving off his line.
Croatia bounced back in the closing minutes to halftime after a cutback to the edge of the area following a short pass invited Martin Baturina to step inside and fired in the top-corner with Jordan Pickford unable to keep it out.
However, Thomas Tuchel’s men managed to regain the lead five minutes to the break as a pin-point corner-kick from Declan Rice found Kane who leaped unchallenged to head beyond Livakovic.
It didn’t stay that way at the break after the Croats hit back when a telling ball over the top from found Ivan Perisic, who cushioned the ball into the path of Petar Musa stepped to volley past Jordan Pickford from close range.
Second Half:
Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham restored their advantage a minute into the second half after he made a clever run on the wide to the area to collect an Elliott Anderson forward pass and sent a fine finish into the far corner.
England applied constant pressure thereafter, giving the Croats little room to breathe as clear chances for Nico O’Reilly, Anthony Gordon and Kane forced Livakovic to a few saves from point-blank range to keep the Lions scoring more goals.
Tuchel shifted to the substitutes bench in the closing exchanges of the contest and removed Gordon, Madueke and Rice for Morgan Rogers, Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford to come on.
The Vatreni came very close to the equaliser later on when Marco Pasalic ran in on the right and drew a cutback to get a sight on goal and forced goalkeeper Jordan Pickford to a smart save.
England made the result safe with five minutes to go after a move from their own half saw Saka come inside and tee-up Rashford on the far side of the box to curl into the bottom-corner in composed style.
Next Fixtures:
England:
1.Ghana
2. Panama
Croatia:
1. Panama
2. Ghana