The match between England and Croatia has ended with a goalless draw. Both the teams have now handed a clear advantage to Spain to top the Group in this competition. Both the sides were beaten by the Spanish National side in their respective opening match in the Group Stage of UEFA Nation’s League. So, a win in this match was really crucial for both the sides. England were slightly holding an advantage in this match against Croatia as they have lost the match against Spain with only one goal margin while the Croatian side were destroyed by Spain with a six goal margin. So, this match was really crucial for Croatia to win and it was their home game too.
The match was played as a closed door one as the fans were not allowed to enter the Stadium. The fans are suspended for two games for showing bad conduct few games ago. So, certainly the pressure was piling upon the Croatian side. The manager of Croatian National side was having very less options in his hand right in this moment. Mateo Kovacic was now a regular starter for the Croatian National side. The first choice Goalkeeper of Croatian National side Subasic was injured. So Dominik Livakovic was playing under the bars for them. Tin Jedvaj and Josip Pivaric were playing as two side backs while the pair of Domagoj Vida and Dejan Lovren were in the central defense of Croatia in this match. Kramaric and Rebic were leading the attacking line of Croatia in this match.
On the other hand, Gareth Southgate has made some changes in the English National team as Danny Rose is injured. That’s why Ben Chilwell is taking his place in the side. Dele Alli is also injured and Ross Barkley has taken his place in the Starting XI of the Three Lions. Surprisingly, Kieran Trippier was in the bench for English National side in this important match.
In the first half, the game was evenly poised. Croatia were having better ball possession but England got the better chances in the first half of the match. Jordan Henderson was shown a yellow card at the sixth minute of match and the English midfielder will surely miss the next match of England against Spain. The first half of the match ended with a scoreline of 0-0.
In the second half of the match, Marcus Rashford has almost missed an open net opportunity to give the Three Lions an important lead in this match. Only the Croatian Goalkeeper was between him and the Goal. But still he was not able to convert it into the Goal. Croatia also got some good chances but they were not able to break the deadlock in this match. The match was full of harsh tackles and the referee was busy showing yellow cards to the players of both the sides. Mateo Kovacic, Dejan Lovren, John Stones, Tin Jedvaj, Raheem Sterling were booked in this match along with Jordan Henderson. Both the sides have to make several changes in their squad to do well in the upcoming European Championship in 2020.
