England 3-1 Mexico: Ledley King, Peter Crouch & Glen Johnson On Target In Wembley's World Cup Farewell
Three Lions tame El Tri...
By Harry Veal
May 24, 2010 9:45:00 PM
England 3-1 Mexico: Line-up & stats
England fixtures and results
England fixtures and results
Goals from Ledley King , Peter Crouch and a stunning strike from Glen Johnson ensured that England beat a spirited Mexico side 3-1 in their last home game before the World Cup.
Despite failing to impress in the first-half, England stepped up a gear in the second and overcame a competitive Mexican side.
The Wembley pitch clearly didn’t affect Mexico, as they started the game the brighter of the two sides. With an attacking line-up, they took the game to England and could have had an early lead inside 9 minutes.
Aguilar put in a menacing cross that flashed right across the 6 yard box after some good passing from the Mexicans.
But just six minutes later, England were ahead. Mexico conceded a cheap corner against the run of play and Peter Crouch noddedSteven Gerrard ’s corner back across goal for Ledley King to score only his second goal for England, six years after his first.
This didn’t seem to dishearten Mexico though and they were almost level after 28 minutes. A lightning quick break saw Giovani Dos Santos find Carlos Vela, but theArsenal striker was thwarted by an excellent save from Robert Green.
They were made to pay for failing to convert their chances just four minutes late when Peter Crouch put England 2-0 ahead.
AnotherSteven Gerrard corner caused panic in the Mexican defence and Wayne Rooney forced a brilliant save from Perez. Unfortunately for the keeper, the ball dropped straight to Peter Crouch, who bundled the ball over the line. Replays showed that the ball went in off his arm but England weren’t complaining.
Mexico again showed their strength of character, going on the attack almost straight from the kickoff. Carlos Vela was again thwarted in his personal feud with Rob Green, after finding space in the box.
They were finally rewarded for their fluent, attacking play with the last kick of the half. Rafael Marquez’s header was cleared off the line by Leighton Baines, but the ball fell straight to Franco, and the West Ham striker prodded the ball in to get the Mexicans back in the game.
Despite having the lead,Fabio Capello must have been far from happy with what he saw in the first half, and whatever he said in his team talk must have made an impact with the players.
Joe Hart came on to replace the impressive Rob Green in goal, andJamie Carragher and Jermain Defoe were brought on for Rio Ferdinand and Peter Crouch.
Just two minutes after the break and England had restored their two goal lead in sensational fashion. Glen Johnson found himself on the edge of the Mexican box and surged past two defenders to curl a delightful left-footed effort past Perez and into the top corner.
This seemed to settle England down a bit and they enjoyed a good period of possession to underline their lead.
However, Mexico still looked dangerous on the ball and almost took advantage of some questionable defending by Baines down the left in the 57th minute. Giovani delivered a fantastic ball into the box, which evaded the Mexican attackers and drifted wide of the far post.
England began to exert their dominance as the half wore on and cut Mexico apart with a delightful, flowing move in the 66th minute.Wayne Rooney brilliantly cut the ball back inside to Steven Gerrard , but the Liverpool player was upended by Barrera on the edge of the box before he could get a shot away.
They almost scored from the resulting free-kick, withJames Milner teeing Gerrard up to drive the ball just wide of the post with Perez scrambling across his goal.
The game began to quiet down after this, butWayne Rooney almost added a fourth in the 83rd minute, with a speculative lob that was cleared off the line after Mexican keeper Perez had raced off his line to deny Jermain Defoe.
Despite their obvious skill on the ball, Mexico were starting to display a touch of desperation by this point and were reduced to ambitious long range shots that proved to be no trouble for Joe Hart in the England goal.
With their opponents visibly starting to tire, England dominated possession but couldn’t quite find another goal to add some gloss to the score-line.
Despite failing to impress in the first-half, England stepped up a gear in the second and overcame a competitive Mexican side.
The Wembley pitch clearly didn’t affect Mexico, as they started the game the brighter of the two sides. With an attacking line-up, they took the game to England and could have had an early lead inside 9 minutes.
Aguilar put in a menacing cross that flashed right across the 6 yard box after some good passing from the Mexicans.
But just six minutes later, England were ahead. Mexico conceded a cheap corner against the run of play and Peter Crouch nodded
This didn’t seem to dishearten Mexico though and they were almost level after 28 minutes. A lightning quick break saw Giovani Dos Santos find Carlos Vela, but the
They were made to pay for failing to convert their chances just four minutes late when Peter Crouch put England 2-0 ahead.
Another
Mexico again showed their strength of character, going on the attack almost straight from the kickoff. Carlos Vela was again thwarted in his personal feud with Rob Green, after finding space in the box.
They were finally rewarded for their fluent, attacking play with the last kick of the half. Rafael Marquez’s header was cleared off the line by Leighton Baines, but the ball fell straight to Franco, and the West Ham striker prodded the ball in to get the Mexicans back in the game.
Despite having the lead,
Joe Hart came on to replace the impressive Rob Green in goal, and
Just two minutes after the break and England had restored their two goal lead in sensational fashion. Glen Johnson found himself on the edge of the Mexican box and surged past two defenders to curl a delightful left-footed effort past Perez and into the top corner.
This seemed to settle England down a bit and they enjoyed a good period of possession to underline their lead.
However, Mexico still looked dangerous on the ball and almost took advantage of some questionable defending by Baines down the left in the 57th minute. Giovani delivered a fantastic ball into the box, which evaded the Mexican attackers and drifted wide of the far post.
England began to exert their dominance as the half wore on and cut Mexico apart with a delightful, flowing move in the 66th minute.
They almost scored from the resulting free-kick, with
The game began to quiet down after this, but
Despite their obvious skill on the ball, Mexico were starting to display a touch of desperation by this point and were reduced to ambitious long range shots that proved to be no trouble for Joe Hart in the England goal.
With their opponents visibly starting to tire, England dominated possession but couldn’t quite find another goal to add some gloss to the score-line.
