England and Scotland had to settle for a Group D draw at Wembley, John Stones’ first-half header against the upright as close as either side came in an end-to-end UEFA EURO 2020 encounter.
The weather may have been decidedly dreary in north London but the action was anything but, with chances at both ends. Raheem Sterling and Mason Mount spurned early openings, while John Stones guided a header against the post with David Marshall well beaten. England No1 Jordan Pickford was also busy, pulling off a fine stop to keep out Stephen O’Donnell’s volley.
It set the tone for an end-to-end encounter, with both sets of supporters suffering spells with hearts in mouths. Reece James brilliantly blocked a Lyndon Dykes effort on the goal line and though The Three Lions enjoyed more possession as the match wore on, Scotland carried a real threat whenever they got forward.
A desperate melee in the Scots’ penalty area at the death just about summed up the evening as The Tartan Army held on, and will carry their spoils home with last-16 hopes very much alive.
Post Match Reaction:
Gareth Southgate, England coach:
“It was a frustrating night. You’ve got to give Scotland huge credit. If you’re not going to win a game then it’s important that you don’t lose it. We can look at ourselves – starting with me – and do better. We didn’t do enough to win the game tonight.”
Steve Clarke, Scotland coach:
“It was a good night. We played well. I know I have a good group of players and they showed that. We had chances to win. England had their moments as well and, looking at it, you wouldn’t have known which team was the favourite, which is a credit to us. The most pleasing thing was we played when we had the ball and created a number of chances.”
EURO 2020 Group D : England 0 – 0 Scotland Highlights
Key stats from today’s game
- England’s seven-match winning run came to an end.
- The Three Lions have conceded just once in their last eight games.
- England are ten matches unbeaten in the EURO group stage (W6 D4), dating back to their last-gasp defeat by France in 2004.
- England have kept 14 clean sheets in their last 18 matches.
- Excluding penalty shoot-outs, Scotland have won just two of their last ten matches (D5 L3).
- Scotland have failed to score in six of their last eight EURO finals matches.
- This was only the second time in 18 matches in England the home side have failed to win. The other was a 1-0 defeat by Denmark last October, when The Three Lions played an hour with ten men.
- England’s starting XI against Scotland has an average age of 25 years and 31 days; their youngest ever in a major tournament.
