England vs Wales, 2012 European Championship Qualifying, Group Stage 2012

· UEFA European Championship Qualifying

England

35': Ashley Young

FT
1 - 0

Wales

About

England are hosting Wales at Wembley Stadium, London, England, starting on . The match is a part of the UEFA European Championship Qualifying.

Match Commentary

0': Join us from 1945 for live text commentary of Fabio Capello's final competitive international at Wembley with England. Wales are the visitors to the Group G leaders.
0':
Frank Lampard has opened the scoring twice in three games against Wales and he may return to the starting line-up at Wembley.
0': The build-up to England v Wales has seen John Terry insist he is unfazed by the Three Lions' home form, which has seen them fail to win in their past four outings at Wembley.
0': Hello everyone and welcome to live text commentary of England v Wales in Euro 2012 qualifying Group G. The Three Lions are top of the pile at the moment, while the Dragons are bottom of the standings.
0': England are fresh off a 3-0 victory in Bulgaria and in pole position to qualify, mainly thanks to Wales doing them a massive favour by beating second-placed Montenegro 2-1.
0': Big team news for England is that Frank Lampard comes in for Scott Parker. After many journalists clamouring to write Lampard's international obituary after he was left out against Bulgaria, the Chelsea midfielder will feel he has much to prove tonight.
0': ESPNsoccernet senior editor John Brewin is at Wembley for us tonight. Check out the site later for his musings on the game.
0': Brewin at Wembley: Reheat: Midfield trio of Lampard, Barry, Milner has a quagmiric stodge to it, with the creativity of Simon Cowell. Capello recoils to type.
0': Ouch, I get the feeling we can expect plenty more stinging comments from JB through the course of the evening.
0': The national anthems in full flow now. Wales boss Gary Speed belting it out. He was a loser twice at Wembley as a player on major occasions with Newcastle United, when they lost successive FA Cup finals to Arsenal (1998) and Man Utd (1999).
0': Ahead of the game, Darrell Currie, Craig Burley, Paddy Barclay and John Cross spoke on ESPN about why Fabio Capello has changed his attitude to selection and mentality.
0': Looking forward to this one. If you're putting a cheeky wager on I'd avoid betting on a draw, it's been 32 games since Wales had one of those.
0': We're just about ready for kick-offf at Wembley.
1': And we're off...
1': England keeping the ball well in the opening seconds and they're already deep in Wales territory.
2': Cleared up easily enough though by the Welsh defence. Interested to see Bale playing on the right again, thought he might have been switched top the left to take on Smalling.
3': Keeping the ball is really the order of the day for England, they've been knocking it around comfortably thus far.
4': Barry with a loose pass towards Cahill but he gets away with it as Steve Morison chooses to conserve his energy and not chase down the Bolton defender. Probably a good idea as Morison is up top on his own today.
5': A long ball over the top was almost picked up by Rooney, but it skipped through to Wales No. 1 Hennessey.
5': Williams with an ambitious cross-field pass towards Bale, but Terry is there first.
6': Crofts in late on Lampard but the Chelsea midfielder shakes off the contact.
6': Cole's cross turned away for an England corner.
7': Terry heads wide and protests that Williams is all over him, which he was to be fair.
8': Bale speeds beyond Cole but Cahill intercepts.
9': England lining up in a 4-3-3 formation at the moment with Downing on the right and Young on the right of Rooney.
9': Cole in acres of space down the left and he's given plenty of time to pick out a white shirt in the box...
10': Poor delivery, headed clear.
10': Brewin at Wembley: Lampard is fall-guy for precaution of omitting Parker because of fear of suspension but flop here and the dogs will be let loose.
11': Free-kick to Wales on the right wing.
11': Williams meets Bale's delivery but his header floats wide.
11': Collison with a really positive run into the England penalty area and Terry required to make a challenge. He obliges with a solid tackle.
12': West Ham midfielder Collison making his debut for Wales tonight.
13': Ramsey disposseses Downing and Wales showing England how to pass and move at the moment, much to the delight of their travelling fans, who have already begun the Oles.
14': In tonight's other Group G game, Bulgaria lead Switzerland 1-0 thanks to a goal from Ivan Ivanov.
14': Morison overpowers Terry when chasing down a long ball and tries a very speculative volley that goes high over the bar.
15': Morison has scored a couple of times at Wembley before, but only in non-league football encounters.
16': Downing skips down the right but his cross is too deep.
17': And once again Downing finds himself in space down the right, but Rooney is beaten to the ball and it's an England corner.
17': Not a great delivery from Downing - it's all the way over the top and out for a throw-in.
18': Rooney with an ambitious chip but it's over Hennessey's crossbar.
19': Hennessey shows good anticipation again to scoop up Downing's cross, despite Rooney looming large in front of him.
20': Bale cynically brought down by Milner on the right touchline.
20': Milner deservedly shown a yellow.
21': Ramsey with an excellent run down the right - Wales getting some good joy down that flank. He drills in a cross but it's just a touch too strong for Morison.
22': It's been a positive few minutes for Wales and a frustrating opening for England, who have struggled to create any clear goalscoring chances of their own.
22': Terry wins England a free-kick after being brought down by Morison.
24': Decent delivery met by Cahill but Hennessey punches clear. The Wolves goalkeeper has looked very composed.
25': Taylor with a looping left-wing cross that isn't dealt with by Cole. Corner for Wales.
25': Scooped clear by Cahill but Wales with a throw-in deep in England territory.
26': Terry and Cole conspire to prevent Morison getting onto a cross.
27': Bale with another penetrating run but Cole succeeds where Milner fails and puts in a legitimate tackle.
27': Rooney screams at his team-mates for not pressing high on the Wales defence.
28': Acrobatic effort from Downing flies over the bar after some excellent dribbling from Ashley Young, who turned Gunter inside out before crossing to his former Aston Villa team-mate.
29': Capello looking very calm on the sidelines, while Gary Speed is gesticulating wildly.
30': Bale attempts to bring Wales forward on the counter-attack but he's stifled by the back-tracking Barry.
31': Stat attack: England have lost just one of 10 games since their exit from the 2010 World Cup, winning six and drawing the other three.
32': Downing tries to turn Taylor, but the Swansea defender is a match for him.
33': Ramsey all alone as he sprints down the right; Rooney combines with Terry to pickpocket the outnumbered midfielder.
34': Crus Gunter storms through the middle and tries his luck from distance, but spoons his shot wide.
35': GOAL Ashley Young
35': England 1-0 Wales Downing again doing well down the right and he pulled a pacy ball back to Young, who whipped a shot past Hennessey. Superb finish.
35': Milner had been doing some probing of his own just before the goal and much of England's attacking play has been down the right side.
36': Brewin at Wembley: Now there's a player in form, there's two of them in fact, Downing to Young - read that and weep, Villa fans.
36': England looking to go for the jugular at the moment, pushing hard up the pitch.
37':
Wales' Darcy Blake and England's Wayne Rooney battle for the ball.
38': Downing with a wonderful, searching ball towards Rooney but Hennessey again up to the task and he is out quickly to boot it to safety.
39': Great ball from Young to Rooney at the near post but he can't get a solid contact on it. Replays show he was offside, but a quality delivery from the Man Utd winger nonetheless.
40': Brewin at Wembley: Wembley is not full, the greatest noise comes when Wales attack. Lampard and Barry strut with little threat. Milner muddles.
41': Bale and Morison attempt to link up but Cole comes away with the ball.
42': Lampard, Rooney and Young with an imaginative exchange on the edge of the Wales penalty area but no end product on this occasion.
43': Bale penalised for an overly-physical challenge on Cole. Think the Spurs winger was a touch unlucky to be blown up there though.
45': Half-time whistle goes...
45': HALF-TIME: England 1-0 Wales. Ashley Young's well-taken strike the difference between the sides, though England were beginning to dominate as the half drew to an end. Morison. Bale, Ramsey and Morison looking reasonably lively for Wales, but they've failed to rouble England too much.
45': Brewin at Wembley: Where did that half go? I remember little of it. It passed me by, I have to say and England lead as expected though barely deserved.
45': England's midfield has come under plenty of scrutiny over the past few days, but Barry and Lampard have done okay. One player unlikely to replace either of them is Arsenal's Emmanuel Frimpong, who has pledged his international future to Ghana.
45':
England's Ashley Young celebrates his opening goal against Wales.
45': In tonight's other Group G game, Bulgaria are drawing 1-1 with Switzerland. The Swiss must win to keep their hopes of a second-place finish alive.
45': For updates from all of tonight's other Euro 2012 qualifiers, join Chris Murphy for our live chat.
45': Just about to start the second half at Wembley.
46': And we're off!
46': England straight on the offensive, with some good movement from Lampard opening up a chance for Young. But Hennessey with a smart stop.
47': Capello's side continue to press and Barry this time fires over the bar. He had visions of repeating the screamer he scored against Bolton a couple of weeks ago.
48': England pass their way out of trouble in a manner Barca would be proud of...okay, the hyperbole ends there.
49': Brewin at Wembley: Wales fans very quiet. Their spirited Andy Williams' covers have gone quiet. Their band is more shrill than the dreaded English shower.
50': Ramsey picks out Bale with a pinpoint pass but the assistant rules that he is offside. Bale quite clearly wasn't, though, and he would have been clean through.
51': Stat attack: Wales have scored a total of just two goals in their last seven games against England.
52': Rooney with a teasing delivery from the right - Young and Lampard were waiting but Blake diverted the ball (inadvertently) out of their path.
53': Milner drifts into space on the left wing and tests Hennessey's handling with a cross. But once more the Wales custodian collects convincingly.
54': Brewin at Wembley: A pedestrian occasion at Wembley. It says little for the idea of bringing back the Home Nations. Mind you, neither does that Carling Trophy.
55': Bale away from Young and Lampard with a frightening turn of pace.
55': But Milner stops him in his tracks with a well-timed tackle.
56': Bale gets beyond Cole and puts in a dangerous ball, which Barry deals with.
56': But Wales with another chance to deliver from a corner.
57': One off the training ground sees it clipped back to Taylor, but his floated ball into the box is dealt with by Smalling. Too easy.
59': Wales looking tidy as they knock the ball around. Bale jinking in and out to evade three players but his shot is wild and wide in the end.
61': Barry with a mazy dribble to open up some space and he passes to an onrushing Lampard on the edge of the box. His shot is over the bar though.
61': A rare burst of pace from Barry opened up that chance.
62': Young lays the ball to Milner, whose shot is deflected off Crofts for a corner.
63': England are in complete control but with only a one goal lead, Wales will still fancy their chances.
64': Downing taken out by Taylor and it's an England free-kick by the right touchline.
65': Hennessey fumbles for the first time in the game but Cahill can't capitalise and his shot was always rising over the ball.
66': Robert Earnshaw about to be introduced for Wales.
66': Bale clips in a cross towards Williams, but the Wales defender is penalised for forcing Hart into dropping the ball.
67': Earnshaw on for Morison.
67': Earnshaw is of course the only player to have scored hat-tricks in all four divisions of English football, the FA Cup, the League Cup and in an international.
68': Ledley finds some space on the left. The Celtic man has been fairly anonymous thus far and he can't engineer an opening on this occasion.
69': The Wales fans start up another rendition of 'I love you baby' to try to spur on their players.
70': Smalling presses Taylor and forces the mistake. Lampard feeds Rooney but Williams tackles.
71': Gunter shows his pace on the right wing but quickly runs out of support.
72': Rooney with a half a yard inside the box...
72': But he's caught in two minds and slices a cross-cum-shot out of play.
73': Parker on for Lampard.
73': Can't quite see the point of this substitution, especially if the reason Lampard started was to prvent Parker from picking up a booking, which would see him suspended for next month's trip to Montenegro.
74': Ramsey fouled by Smalling and Bale eyes up the free-kick, about 30 yards out and central.
75': Not enough dip and whip though from Bale and it doesn't trouble Hart.
75': Brewin at Wembley: Earnshaw on for Wales. Will he be doing that acrobatic celebration? Does he still do it? He must be pushing on a bit. I'd like to see it.
75': Smalling again penalised, this time he's late on Collison.
76': Earnshaw squanders a glorious chance!
76': Ramsey's delivery finds Williams, who pulled the ball across to Earnshaw. But with the goal at his mercy, the Cardiff forward lashed it over. Easily Wales' best opportunity of the game.
77':
Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey can't stop Ashley Young's shot.
77': Remarkably cool defending from Blake to bring Downing's cross under control, take another touch and then clear with Rooney bearing down on him.
78': Johnson on for Downing.
79': Brewin at Wembley: Earnie, the fastest shin float in the west (with apologies to Benny Hill).
80': Hart produces a superb save to deny Gunter in a one-on-ome position.
80': But the referee blew up for a foul on Ashley Cole, it wouldn't have counted had Gunter found the net.
81': The right-back's effort was certainly better than Earnshaw's!
81': Stat attack: Rooney's last four international goals have all come during the month of September.
82': Earnshaw accelerates into oodles of space on the left. He looks to take Terry on and then has a go from the edge of the box. Unfortunately for Wales, there was not enough curl or really any accuracy in Earnshaw's effort.
82': Wales buiilding some momentum in the last few minutes, desperately searching for an equaliser.
83': Taylor with a cross from the right - long and harmlessly out for a goal kick.
84': King on for Collison.
85':
England's Ashley Cole sweats as he heads the ball clear.
86': Wales with a trow-in deep in the England half. Speed's side doggedly pursuing a leveller.
86': England have been stuck in their half for the past few minutes.
87': Earnshaw with another strike but his low shot is easy pickings for Hart.
88': Young tiptoes around Gunter but drags his shot just wide from just inside the left of the penalty box.
89': Rooney on for Carroll.
89': Brewin at Wembley: "You're Just Too Good To Be True" belted out by the Cymru choir. Fabio will be singing that on karaoke tonight with Earnie's miss on his HD.
90': Ramsey named the sponsors' man of the match at Wembley. Not too many candidates for that really.
91':
Wales' Gareth Bale has a free kick attempt on goal.
92': Full-time nears and England will be able to celebrate a less than convincing victory.
92': Johnson fouled on the right and the ref blows the final whistle...
92': FULL-TIME: England 1-0 Wales. Another game at Wembley, another uninspiring performance from the Three Lions, who clearly prefer playing out of the eye of the English public. Ashley Young shows again that he has developed into a key player for club and country. Wales can be proud of their efforts but Rob Earnshaw won't be able to sleep tonight after his shocking miss.
92': Brewin at Wembley: An utterly unremarkable match in which Aaron Ramsey is man of the match, according to the announcer. England players clapping at empty seats.
92': That's all from this game, but keep an eye on the site for reports from the other big Euro 2012 qualifiers. Goodnight all.

Statistics

WAL		ENG
15	Fouls	10
0	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
3	Offsides	3
3	Corner Kicks	5
5	Saves	2
45	Possession	55
10	SHOTS	11
2	ON GOAL	3
0.2	On Target %	0.3
0	Penalty Goals	0
0	Penalty Kicks Taken	0
0	Accurate Passes	0
0	Passes	0
0.0	Pass Completion %	0.0
3	Accurate Crosses	3
13	Crosses	20
0.2	Cross %	0.2
0	Long Balls	0
0	Accurate Long Balls	0
0.0	Long Balls %	0.0
2	Blocked Shots	2
0	Effective Tackles	0
0	Tackles	0
0.0	Tackle %	0.0
0	Interceptions	0
0	Effective Clearances	0
12	Clearances	6

Game Information

Competition: UEFA European Championship Qualifying

Venue: Wembley Stadium
Location: London, England
Attendance: 77,128

EURO Qualifying Standings

#	TEAM	GP	GD	PTS
1	Hungary	8	+9	18
2	Serbia	8	+6	14
3	Montenegro	8	-2	11
4	Lithuania	8	-6	6

Full Standings

Line-Ups

England

No.	Name
1	Joe Hart (GK)
2	Chris Smalling
6	John Terry
5	Gary Cahill
3	Ashley Cole
11	James Milner
8	Frank Lampard
4	Gareth Barry
7	Stewart Downing
9	Ashley Young
10	Wayne Rooney

England Substitutes:

David Stockdale, Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott, Scott Parker, Adam Johnson, Andy Carroll, Jermain Defoe.

Wales

No.	Name
1	Wayne Hennessey (GK)
2	Chris Gunter
6	Ashley Williams
3	Neil Taylor
11	Gareth Bale
5	Darcy Blake
4	Andrew Crofts
8	Jack Collison
10	Aaron Ramsey
7	Joe Ledley
9	Steve Morison

Wales Substitutes:

Boaz Myhill, Danny Collins, James Collins, Andy King, Joe Allen, Hal Robson-Kanu, Robert Earnshaw.

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