Slovakia win big moment for young England, says Gareth Southgate
Monday 4 September 2017 23:28, UK
Gareth Southgate insists England's 2-1 against Slovakia was a big moment for his young side after they moved a step closer to World Cup qualification.
England had to come from behind at Wembley after Marcus Rashford's mistake early on allowed Stanislav Lobotka to open the scoring.
The Manchester United forward recovered to set up Eric Dier to equalise and then scored the winner in the second half himself to complete the turnaround.
Southgate, whose side now sit five points clear at the top of Group F with two qualifying matches remaining, was delighted with the character his side showed to come from behind and win.
"We didn't start the game well and Slovakia did," Southgate told Sky Sports.
"They capitalised on a mistake for the goal. To come back in the manner we did and regain control in the last 20 minutes of the first half and then go on to be by far the better team in the second half, I was really pleased with the response.
"It's a big moment for a young team."
England conceded after just three minutes when an error from Rashford was punsihed by Lobotka.
The 19-year-old made amends, though, when his corner was swept home at the near post by Dier after 36 minutes.
Rashford went one better after the break, lashing home a right-footed effort from just outside the box to hand England a vital victory.
Southgate was full of praise for Rashford's performance but insists victory over Slovakia was a team effort.
"Rashford was a real threat for us," Southgate added. "His speed on the counter was obvious and he can go past people.
"I thought we had a few excellent individual displays. Dele Alli was excellent, Jordan Henderson was excellent and our defence, who were asked a lot of questions, defended really well.
"Understandably Marcus will get all the attention but this was a team and a squad effort over 10 days ."
