England beat Tunisia by 2-1 in their very first match of this edition of FIFA World Cup. England were on the attacking mode from the word go, and deservedly took the head when unmarked Harry Kane tapped home from a close range. The Tunisian goalkeeper Hassen was substituted injured not before making two brilliant saves.England were wasteful in many occasions with Lindgard and Sterling being the culprits. Before the lemon break Ferjani Sassi scored from a penalty spot which Kylie Walker needlessly gifted to the opponents. In second half Tunisia began to sit deep and defend making life very difficult for English attackers. When a dispiriting draw looked inevitable,English skipper Kane headed home his second goal and the winner in the 91st minute of the match. Now lets analyze the hits and misses from the England versus Tunisia match.
Hits:
Harry Kane(England)- English marksman Kane was off to a flyer. He scored two goals with a poacher’s finish. He was the main focal point of all major attacks of England. Kane was a constant menace to the Tunisian defenders in the penalty box. He won 5 one to one duels and scored twice from 3 shots on goal. Rating-8/10
Kieran Trippier(England)- He was arguably the best player of the match. He was a constant threat going forward and was dangerous with his set piece play. The eventual goal was set up by Trippier’s corner which Kane headed home. He had a fantastic night with 7 key pasees,7 accurate crosses and 3 long balls and his passing accuracy was a decent 79%. Rating-8/10
Jordan Henderson(England)- He was compact and very solid in the central midfield. His inter passing with his other team mates were decent. He also tested the Tunisian keeper with a sizzling first half strike. His good form will help the team going forward in the tournament. Henderson won all his 6 one to one duels with his opponents. He had a passing accuracy of 84% and had 6 accurate long balls to his credit. Rating-7/10
Misses:
Jesse Lindgard(England)- His profligacy in front of the goal was pushing his team to a perilous point loss until Kane’s winner in the injury time. He was always a threat moving forward but with no end result. Against a weak team like Tunisia he had zero key passes. Rating-5/10
Raheem Sterling(England)- Although Tunisia was having a tough time handling his speed yet he could not do much going upfront. He missed an open sitter. His control over the ball was poor and his pointless runs ended in a cul de sac. He was often dispossessed off the ball by opponents. He created only one big chance in the entire game with zero crosses and long balls. Rating-5/10
Wahbi Khazri(Tunisia)- a lot was expected of the Tunisian skipper who has the experience of playing his club football in the English Premier League. He was a virtual spectator to the game and did very little going forward. He only had a meagre 14 accurate passes with an average accuracy of 70%. He could not dribble past the English defenders for once in the game.Rating-5/10
