Both the English and Welsh teams had nice results in the first round of this qualifying weekend. England took out Bulgaria on the road and Wales beat Montenegro at home. England was in the driver's seat in the group but Wales has started to look a lot better.
Unfortunately there wasn't much to this match. Both sides started out very tentatively. The commentators pointed out that this was perhaps due to the fact that so many of these players know each other so well, and are good friends. Perhaps that altered the approach to the match. Intensity was not something really exhibited by either team throughout.
England had the better moments for the most part, and they had the only moment that ended up counting. In the 35th minute Ashely Young took a nice cross in the area from Stewart Downing and slotted it just inside the near post to give England the 1-0 lead. They held that lead through the half time interval and the rest of the match.
Wales did have one glorious chance though. In the 77th minute, a rebound off of a set piece fell right to Earnshaw in front of goal, but he missed, putting the ball high from point blank range. Wales put up quite a fight in the last 10 minutes, but couldn't really trouble Joe Hart. England went on to win 1-0. A lackluster effort to be sure, but 3 points, and it put the Three Lions very close to qualification.
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