Arsenal lads on the scoresheet for England + fun times in Dublin

Morning all, and happy Friday to you.

England beat Serbia 2-0 at Wembley last night, with both goals coming from Arsenal men. Bukayo Saka opened the scoring in the first half, volleying home after a Declan Rice set-piece delivery caused some problems for the visitors defence – watch here.

Then, late in the game, Eberechi Eze produced a sensational finish, curling a first time into the top corner to the seal the game for Thomas Tuchel’s team – watch here. Both goals were very well taken, but the precision of Eze’s finish was something else. Hopefully that’s the precursor to seeing a few finishes like this when he’s wearing red and white.

Having already qualified for the World Cup next summer, it was a little frustrating to see Saka play 90 minutes, but with a trip to Albania next week, hopefully he and Rice in particular get a bit if a rest for that game. I know Tuchel has sections of the England fanbase he has to try and convince, but if 7 straight wins in qualifying doesn’t do it, there’s probably more to their scrutiny of him than football performance.

In France, William Saliba played 90 minutes as they beat Ukraine 4-0, while as expected Riccardo Calafiori sat out Italy’s 2-0 win in Moldova. His absence might get the injury spider-senses tingling, but hopefully it’s just precautionary. There’s a report of a small hip issue, so fair play to Italy for recognising a player who had some real difficulties last season, and who has played a lot this time out, might benefit from a cautious/sensible approach to team selection. They play Norway on Sunday, so let’s see if he’s involved in that.

Speaking of Norway, they won 4-1 last night, more or less assuring their qualification for the World Cup for the first time since 1998. Martin Odegaard was there to be involved with his international teammates, and didn’t look like he was struggling with his knee in the dressing room afterwards. The Norway manager was a little circumspect with regards his return from injury when talking to the press this week, despite reports closer to home that he could be in contention for a post-Interlull return. Let’s see what happens.

Tonight, Jurrien Timber will likely to play for the Netherlands as they take on Poland away from home, while Piero Hincapie’s Ecuador face Canada in a friendly. There’s also U21 action which could see both Ethan Nwaneri and Tommy Setford involved against Ireland. Speaking of Ireland, by the way, Portugal came to Dublin last night and got beaten 2-0, which means a win over Hungary in Budapest on Sunday would secure a playoff place for the Boys in Green.

Beyond that though, there was fun stuff as Cristiano Ronaldo got a straight red card for a elbow on Dara O’Shea. There was a VAR check, the ref issued the red, and the Portugal captain responded by applauding the crowd as if they made him do it, somehow.

And now to a brand new section, entitled – Things you love to see. Starting with:

But as a nation renowned for its hospitality, the Ireland fans gave him a great farewell, which was not at all sarcastic. There was even a lad paying tribute to Leandro Trossard’s binoculars celebration, definitely not making the ‘cry more’ gesture as he walked off the pitch to get into a spat with the Ireland manager who is from Iceland. There’s another lad doing the traditional ‘I’m pulling the chain which makes shamrock confetti appear’. Gracious to the last, you have to say.

Fun times.

Beyond that, not a lot going on, other than a mention for Declan Rice whose second free kick against Real Madrid has been nominated for the Puskas Award. It’s an amazing goal, although I’ve always been a ‘first free kick truther’ in this game. There’s some solid competition as you can see from the accompanying video in the link above, but I will say given the way that scraggledy, dark-hearted ghoul Gianni Infantino has been talking of late, an award from FIFA isn’t going to be as prestigious as it might have been otherwise.

Right, I’ll leave it there for now. There’s an Arsecast below if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, some good chats with Ryan Hunn of Stadio, and for some extra reading this morning, here’s Tim on Leandro Trossard.

Enjoy!