Arsenal may not have had our usual complement of players in the England squad due to Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain not being fit, but the one Gunner who did start against Lithuania made the most of it. Danny Welbeck capped his good performance with a goal, an assist and was desrvedly named Man of the Match bu the ITV commentator.
Welbeck looked sharp from the start and his pace and ability gave the away side real problems on both flanks. And he set the tone for England’s attack, helping them to take an early lead with some great skill to beat a couple of players as he burst through and drew a good save with a smart shot. THe rebound fell to Rooney to head home.
The Arsenal striker nearly got another assist 15 minutes later after another lightning run down the right and a good cross to find Rooney whose header came back off the bar this time. Danny was involved in everything going forwards, was given wrongly offside when through on goal, earned a dangerous free kick and had a decent penalty claim turned down.
JUst when it looked like England would go the break just one ahead, some good movement in the box saw Welbeck get his head on a cross that was deflected in. I’m sure it will be his goal as his header was goalbound but the deflection was a bit fortunate.
He continued to play well and with a smile on his face until replaced by Theo Walcott towards the end. Walcott looked alright after coming on but did not have the same sort of influence as his club team mate and will hope for more time on the pitch against Italy on Tuesday.
Welbeck though, continues his improvement since joining Arsenal and that is very good news for us.