Friday, May 27, 2016
Marcus Rashford's incredible rise continued when he took less than three minutes of his England debut to grab his first goal for his country.
The young striker fired Roy Hodgson's men into an early lead, before Wayne Rooney secured the victory in the second half.
It was not a convincing performance by the Three Lions, and Eric Dier's headed own goal put their position under threat late on, but the hosts held on for the win in their second pre-Euro 2016 warm-up game.
Rashford was named in the starting XI due to injury to Daniel Sturridge, and he dispelled any nerves early on.
The youngster cleverly played in the overlapping Raheem Sterling as England broke, but decided to linger in the space in the area rather than move towards goal.
The Manchester City man's cross deflected off the first man and sat up perfectly for Rashford, who sent a composed finish past Matthew Ryan at the near post.
It was fairytale stuff, as he became his country's third youngest scorer behind Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, with the former allowing himself a smile on the substitutes bench.
The goal was the perfect start for the Three Lions, but they failed to further prove their dominance, as the visitors grew into the game.
They started to control possession with ease, and offered a few threats to the shaky England backline; Robbie Kruse's powerful blocked shot being the best chance.
Rashford had the chance to double his tally a quarter of an hour in, but he failed to capitalise on Sterling's inch perfect pass when his control let him down.
Adam Lallana also had the chance to put the hosts two ahead, but the impressive Ryan saved well after the Liverpool winger tried to turn home Rashford's clever pass.
Joshua Risdon and Jamie Maclaren both threatened to get the Socceroos back on level terms, but Chris Smalling and John Stones respectively interfered in time to prevent either player getting a shot off at Fraser Forster's goal.
Jordan Henderson tested Ryan with minutes to go of the opening period, the Valencia keeper pushing a curling attempt over the bar to keep the score 1-0 at the break.
Rooney was introduced at half-time, alongside James Milner, taking part in his first England action since the end of the domestic season.
And it was the skipper who grabbed the second for the hosts 10 minutes in to the second half.
Australia threatened, and continually made England's defence look poor, but a counter attack from the Three Lions resulting in Rooney crashing the ball home after being played through by Sterling.
It was harsh on the visitors, but it presented a real conundrum for Hodgson, who has now seen all four of his strikers to have played in the friendlies hit the back of the net.
Nathaniel Clyne went close with a long range attempt as the Three Lions pushed for a third, with Rooney's goal seeming to take much of the fight out of Australia.
Eric Dier was brought on to give him minutes at centre-back, knowing he is the fourth option in Hodgson's selection should either of the natural defenders be out of action.
However, moments after entering the field, the Spurs midfielder sent a low near post header past Forster to get the visitors back into the game.
The goal did little to kickstart an Australia fight back, and the hosts saw out the win with comparative ease, ensuring the 100% pre-tournament record continues for the Three Lions.
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