England vs. Scotland: Score and Reaction for World Cup 2018 Qualifying

England made rivals Scotland pay for their profligacy at Wembley Stadium on Friday, as they secured a 3-0 win in their FIFA World Cup qualifying match.

Daniel Sturridge’s stooping header in the 24th minute gave the hosts a one-goal lead at the break, with neither side finding a rhythm in their play early on. After the restart and a flurry of Scotland openings, Adam Lallana doubled the Three Lions’ advantage in the 50th minute before Gary Cahill made the game absolutely safe after the hour mark with a third.

The win for Gareth Southgate's side sees them stay on top of Group F with 10 points, while Gordon Strachan's men already face an uphill struggle to qualify, as they're down in fifth on four points.

After two rousing national anthems, the game started at a contrastingly slow pace, with England maintaining moribund possession across their back four and the visitors, donning a garish pink jersey, settling into a deep defensive shape.

As noted by the Sport Witness Twitter account, John Stones was particularly erratic on the ball for the home side:

But as the game settled down, England started to slowly turn the screw, with the Scots retreating towards their own goal. It didn’t take the hosts long to make this flurry of pressure count.

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The ball found its way out to Kyle Walker on the right flank, who did brilliantly to get it out of his feet and thrash a cross across goal. Reacting fastest, as he so often does, Sturridge was in front of his man in flash, diverting a header past Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

Per Squawka Football, the Liverpool man’s best performances this season have come on the international stage:

Scotland spurned a brilliant chance to level, as an unmarked Grant Hanley inexplicably headed a long way over the bar from eight yards. 

Indeed, the best opportunities for the remainder of the half fell to Scots, with England’s defending still looking a little ropey under minor pressure. Leigh Griffiths missed the best of them, as he latched on to a loose pass from Wayne Rooney, before choosing to shoot instead of passing to the well-placed Robert Snodgrass.

Their lack of ruthlessness allowed England to preserve a one-goal lead until half-time. The Sunday Times’ Jonathan Northcroft summed up a forgetful 45 minutes:

In the early stages of the second period, the visitors again looked the most threatening, with James Forrest unable to add the finishing touch to a fine counter-attack from the side in pink, before Snodgrass saw his effort inside the box blocked by Stones. 

To compound the frustration of the visitors, they were made to pay for their wastefulness. Again, Scotland were unable to defend a decent cross into the box, this time from Danny Rose, and Lallana was in space to arrow a header past Gordon.

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At this juncture, Scotland heads started to drop, and England grew in confidence. So it was no great surprise to see the visitors switch off from a corner on 61 minutes and allow Cahill to flash a header past Gordon from Rooney's devilish corner.

With three headers conceded, OptaJoe noted the Scots' chronic issues against England in the air:

The shackles were off the hosts with the score reading 3-0, and there was a panache in their attacking play for the following 10 minutes. Raheem Sterling could have easily made it four after some nifty interchanges, but he spooned a great opportunity over.

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In the final stages, both managers made changes, and with the contest effectively over, the match was plunged into something of a lull. And if the scoreline wasn't enough, things got even worse for the travelling Scottish contingent before the referee called time on this one, per BBC Sport's Richard Conway:

Hanley, Griffiths, Forrest and Snodgrass all squandered huge opportunities to make themselves heroes with a goal against England when this one was still in the balance. Strachan may feel his side were unfortunate when reflecting on the contest as a whole, but at venues like Wembley, it's imperative clear openings are grasped.

The scoreline may have flattered England eventually, as they were nowhere near their best on the night. However, Southgate's side showed the composure and quality in the final third that's so important at this level; it's a chasm in class that's epitomised by the respective positions of both teams in the group.

Post-Match Reaction

Strachan was quizzed on his own position in his post-match press conference. As noted by Ian Herbert of The Independent, the Scotland boss was in defensive mood on the subject:

After the contest, Southgate gave a candid assessment of his own team’s display, admitting they rode their luck at times.

“We caused problems from ourselves,” he told ITV (h/t BBC Sport). “We want to play out from the back and were sloppy in that area. It is something to improve on. We caused our own problems but once we were through that phase on the fielder some of our use of the ball was fantastic.”