England 3-0 Wales: international football friendly – as it happened

10.05pm BST No word from Craig Bellamy. Ah well, never mind, at least the ever-uncompromising and equally entertaining Thomas Tuchel has given everyone something to talk about with his latest straight-talking salvo. A masterclass in telling it as he sees it. More on that anon no doubt. Anyway, David Hytner’s report is in, and here it is! Thanks for reading this MBM. Related: Rogers and Watkins’ fast start sparks England’s emphatic win against Wales 10.01pm BST Tuchel adds: “We need to play without Harry [Kane], we need to play without Jude [Bellingham], the guys are injured, there is no excuse so we will find solutions, and we did again today … I think we played excellent in the first half.” 9.59pm BST Tuchel: 'We never got any energy back from the fans ... a bit sad' Thomas Tuchel talks to ITV, and he’s not happy with the Wembley crowd. “We did very very well … an excellent first half … we were 3-0 up very quickly but could have been 4-0 or 5-0 up by half time … we couldn’t score the [next one] … the stadium was silent … we never got any energy back from the fans and I think the players delivered a lot … get more from the stands … it was difficult to keep everything going in the second half.” So did he expect more from Wembley? “Yeah … what more can you give than 20 minutes and three goals … the way we attacked Wales … they didn’t let them escape from their own half … if you then hear for half an hour just Wales fans … yeah, a bit sad … I think the team deserved big support today.” 9.50pm BST Morgan Rogers, who scored his first goal for England tonight, speaks to ITV. “It’s a proud moment … a lovely moment … to do it at home in a home-nation derby … a dream come true, really, a nice feeling … the quality of players we have got, the people here and not here, you can never be too comfortable and think you’ve got a role because someone will take your place … it’s just about keep progressing and performing.” Bukayo Saka adds: “It’s been a while … I’ve missed a few camps … it’s nice to be back and back on the scoresheet … it meant everything to me … happy to be back … we moved the ball quick … we just needed to pick our moments and that’s what we did … you can see the manager’s values … he makes them very clear … we are very happy with a big percentage of the game.” 9.46pm BST Wales talked before the match of their intention to come at England … and so England wasted no time in coming straight back at them. The hosts were magnificently dominant in the first half, Wales chasing shadows. The better team won comfortably, with Morgan Rogers, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Marc Guéhi perhaps the pick of a bunch impressive across the board. And yet Wales have a little something to take back down the M4, in a vastly improved second-half performance. And on another night, maybe a couple of the decent chances they had after the break would have gone in, and made the scoreline look a tad more respectable. Succour after a difficult evening, with Belgium in Cardiff to come. England meanwhile strut on to Latvia, their latest staging post en route to inevitable World Cup qualification, next week. 9.40pm BST FULL TIME: England 3-0 Wales England win their seventh game in eight under Thomas Tuchel. 9.39pm BST 90 min +2: Rashford prepares to shoot from the edge of the Wales D, but Bowen had handled earlier in the move and the whistle goes. Meanwhile on the touchline, Thomas Tuchel and Craig Bellamy embrace, and enjoy a joke. There’s nice. 9.37pm BST 90 min +1: Koumas has another look at Spence down the left again, and wins another corner. Brooks hits it long but Sheehan, in his desperation to control a ball rearing up, and take aim in the hope of scoring a consolation, handles. 9.36pm BST 90 min: There will be three additional minutes. 9.34pm BST 88 min: Wales stroke it around the back. They’ll be desperate to hold England in this second half. It would provide some much-needed succour after that difficult first 45. 9.32pm BST 86 min: The Welsh travelling choir making all of the noise now. Their team have put in a much more acceptable shift in this second half. Although let’s be honest, those famous fans would be singing their hymns and arias anyway. 9.30pm BST 84 min: Koumas drives down the left and wins a corner off Spence. Brooks, who has been highly decent in this second half, pings the set piece onto Rodon’s head, but the Wales defender can’t keep his header down. 9.27pm BST 82 min: Now Gordon exchanges passes with Lewis-Skelly down the left, enters the box, cuts inside, and aims a curler towards the top right. Always wide, always high. 9.26pm BST 81 min: Bowen releases Gordon down the left channel. Gordon enters the box and shoots, but Rodon is across to block. He’s made a few crucial stops this evening. 9.25pm BST 80 min: Stones is replaced by Lewis-Skelly. 9.24pm BST 78 min: In a parallel universe somewhere, Wales have scored three goals in this second half. The small margins between an extremely unpalatable scoreline for them, and a comeback for the ages. For all England’s dominance, etc. 9.23pm BST 77 min: … and Harris’s first touch should be a goal! Brooks finds him in the middle with a lovely outside-of-boot cross from the right. Harris has a free header, but powers it over the bar from six yards. 9.22pm BST 76 min: Wales make a double change, replacing the ineffective front two of Moore and Johnson with Koumas and Harris. 9.21pm BST 74 min: Pickford has had next to nothing to do this evening. But he’s been called upon twice, and on both occasions has made fine saves. “My long-dead Welsh maternal grandmother Marguerite has made contact from ‘the other side’ during the second half,” begins Kimberley Thonger promisingly. “She says that as her maiden name was Morgan she feels that Morgan Rogers must really be Welsh and the score should be 2-1 not 3-0.” 9.19pm BST 72 min: Spence is booked for cynically bundling over an in-flight Kpakio. Brooks sends the resulting free kick into the England box on the diagonal, and Mepham stoops to guide a fine diving header towards the bottom-right corner. Mepham’s attempt to replicate Keith Houchen’s famous goal for Coventry in the 1987 FA Cup final – at the same end – is scuppered by Pickford, who makes a superb diving stop. 9.16pm BST 70 min: As if to emphasise how this game has drifted from its status of high-octane local derby into tepid friendly, England respond to Wales’ triple change with a quadruple swap of their own. Rice, Saka, Rogers and Anderson make way for Henderson, Loftus-Cheek, Gibbs-White and Bowen. Henderson takes the captain’s armband from Rice. 9.14pm BST 68 min: Another England corner. A bit of a kerfuffle in the Wales box. Stones takes it too far. The whistle goes. This match was pure tincture of intensity in the first half, but now it’s thin friendly gruel. 9.13pm BST 66 min: The game becomes a little shapeless, and the fans are making their own entertainment right now. The Wales end with one beautiful noise. “Scotland have won 12-0 tonight in qualifying. Fact.” Yes, Simon McMahon, they have. But if we’re playing that game, then let’s also take this opportunity to take hats off to world champions Wales. Updated at 9.22pm BST 9.10pm BST 64 min: Wales make a triple change, replacing Davies, Ampadu and Wilson with Mepham, Sheehan and Kpakio. “Craig Bellamy has barely put a foot wrong since being appointed,” argues Matt Dony. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t have high expectations, and he wasn’t my first choice. But I was spectacularly wrong. He’s been tactically astute, humble, fantastic in front of journalists, and the players sound like they’ve really enjoyed working with him. But, fundamentally, England are just much better, aren’t they? Annoyingly so.” 9.09pm BST 63 min: Wales will be happy enough with their attempts to keep England at arm’s length since the restart. 9.07pm BST 61 min: Rice, Gordon and Anderson over-elaborate at the corner, and Wales take the opportunity to push the play back up the pitch. 9.06pm BST 60 min: Saka drops a shoulder to make a little space down the right, but his eventual shot is blocked by Dasilva’s lunge. But here comes another corner. Rice to take. 9.05pm BST 59 min: Nope, Manchester City fans worry not, Stones – who suffered a heavy landing – is back on and wandering about without a care in the world. 9.04pm BST 57 min: After that brief brouhaha in the England box, Stones stays down and requires a little treatment. He’s back up soon enough, but trudging around the edge of the pitch in a manner which suggests he’s about to be hooked as a precaution. 9.02pm BST 56 min: Wales finally put Pickford to work! Williams, deep on the right, swings a diagonal into the England box. Brooks meets the dropping ball with a sidefooted volley, forcing Pickford to kick away. Fine reaction stop. The rebound finds Moore, who flaps an eyebrowed header over the bar. Finally a little something for the 7,500 travelling Welsh fans to cheer. 9.00pm BST 54 min: … and so England go back to stroking it around the back insouciantly. 8.59pm BST 52 min: … the ball’s worked back up the right to Saka, who pings Rogers free into the box down the channel. Rogers hits a rising diagonal drive that beats Darlow but smacks off the crossbar and away. Would that have counted? Was Rogers offside? It was tight. Either way, it was a hell of a shot. 8.57pm BST 51 min: Cullen miscontrols, gifting Gordon the chance to barrel his way down the right. He’s got Rashford waiting to tap home in the middle, but clanks his cross straight at Rodon, who for his part did all he could to deflect behind. Then from the corner … 8.56pm BST 50 min: … so having just said that, the pace of play significantly drops for the first time this evening, as England stroke it around the back insouciantly. Pulitzer, please! 8.54pm BST 48 min: England have come out sniffing more goals. Spence takes a shot that’s blocked, then Rashford nearly bursts into the Wales box from the left flank. Not quite. But the hosts aren’t in the mood to stop at 3-0, it would seem. 8.53pm BST 47 min: Both teams are now sporting shirts without names on the back. That’s to help raise awareness of dementia, as part of the FA’s link-up with their official charity partner, the Alzheimer’s Society. You can read more about this on the official England Football website. 8.50pm BST Wales get the second half started. England have made a change, taking no chances with Watkins after the striker’s collision with the goal-frame. Rashford comes on in his place. Updated at 8.57pm BST 8.43pm BST Half-time postbag. “Friendly ? There is no friendship between the Welsh and English, you only have to look to Twickenham or the Millennium to understand that. Or better still, Offa’s Dyke. Built by King Offa (the greatest king before Alfred the Great) to keep the heathen Welsh out and the sanctity of Harry Kane in. I grew up in the borderlands of Shropshire/Montgomeryshire, they hated us and we hated them. Didn’t stop us enjoying their countryside or them enjoying our open pubs on Dry Sundays (ask your dad). Owain Glyndŵr will have his vengeance another day” – Jeremy Boyce “Will Craig Bellamy be the first person shown the red card tonight?” – Tony Hughes “Ian Rush always looks like he’s been slapped by laverbread” – Tim Stappard “I’m afraid Craig Bellamy will have to go the full Michael Sheen at halftime” – Peter Oh 8.37pm BST HALF TIME: England 3-0 Wales England with a stirring and skilful display packed with energy, enthusiasm and emotion. Wales couldn’t cope with their … there’s no other word for it … hwyl. 8.34pm BST 45 min +2: The corner’s hit long, and Guehi can’t quite connect with his header at the far stick. The ball sails harmlessly wide. 8.34pm BST 45 min +1: Not for the first time this evening, Gordon twists the blood of Williams down the left. Corner. Rice to take. Another goal here would put the tin lid on a nightmare half for Wales, and a glorious one for England. 8.33pm BST 45 min: There will be two additional first-half minutes. Incidentally, Watkins is back into the heat of the action. Good to see after that brief scare. 8.32pm BST 44 min: … but Wales come again, and for the first time this evening, apply a little pressure to the England defence. There’s some pinball in the box, and a bit of head tennis, Moore in the epicentre of the rumble, but England eventually hack clear. For the first time this evening, Wales have given the hosts something to think about. Not a great deal, admittedly, with no effort on goal, but small acorns and all that. 8.31pm BST 43 min: Wilson hoicks a long-range shot high and wide. Pickford still has had nothing to do. 8.30pm BST 42 min: Watkins smacked into the woodwork with his knee. He looks in serious pain … but thankfully he’s soon up and about again, the pain of impact subsiding quickly. A huge relief, because for a brief moment that didn’t look good. Updated at 8.33pm BST 8.29pm BST 40 min: Rogers slips Anderson into the box down the inside-right channel. Anderson swivels and whistles a low cross through the six-yard box. Watkins slides in and surely must score, but somehow shins the ball wide and clatters into the left-hand post himself. That would usually be comical, but it looks as though Watkins has hurt himself. His team-mates wave for medical assistance. 8.26pm BST 38 min: Rogers finds Rice striding down the inside right channel. Rice breaks into the box and looks for Watkins in the middle, but Rodon clears and in any case England’s stand-in captain had gone too early and the flag pops up for offside. 8.24pm BST 36 min: To give Guehi fair measure, he certainly tried his best to pull out of that challenge. Certainly clumsy, but not intentional. The gesture possibly saved him from further censure. Anyway, Moore is thankfully fine to continue, and nothing comes of the resulting free kick. 8.23pm BST 34 min: Guehi miscontrols in the centre circle and lunges into Moore. He just about pulls out of committing a scissor challenge on the striker’s standing leg. But there’s enough contact for a yellow card. It could have been more. A really clumsy challenge. 8.21pm BST 33 min: Wales launch an extremely rare sortie into English territory. Ampadu advances on the box down the middle, but clanks his pass straight to Konsa, who deals with the situation with ease. Pickford has had absolutely nothing to do. 8.19pm BST 32 min: Spence sends Gordon into acres down the left with a raking ball. Gordon takes a heavy touch and runs the ball out of play for a goal kick. The first major misstep by any English player so far this evening, and it matters not. 8.18pm BST 30 min: Wales are beginning to betray their irritation with events. Now Cullen comes clattering into Saka. Meanwhile on the touchline, Craig Bellamy is now engaged in a voyage of philosophical discovery with the fourth official. A few men in red running hot. Updated at 8.30pm BST 8.16pm BST 28 min: Williams, frustrated, lunges across Gordon and earns himself a booking. There wasn’t much contact, but the referee’s not buying Williams’ protest. Free kick coming up in a dangerous position, 25 yards out, just to the left of centre. Rice takes, and looks for the top left, but this isn’t one out of his Real Madrid scrapbook. It sails high over the bar. Goal kick. 8.15pm BST 26 min: Wales scoring legend Ian Rush sits in the stand, wearing a similar expression to Bellamy. He’s not happy with what he’s been watching. Utterly stunned, as though he’s just been slapped in his affronted face by 100lbs of laverbread. Updated at 8.18pm BST 8.12pm BST 24 min: Gordon dribbles in from the left, all the way into the middle of the park, then plays a cute pass towards Rogers, who can’t quite control and spin away into space down the inside-right channel. Had Rogers managed to execute that piece of skill, England were away again. Not quite. But a nice try. Full marks all round for ambition. 8.09pm BST 22 min: The thing is, this scoreline doesn’t flatter England at all. They’ve absolutely flown out of the blocks, and played some wonderful football. Wales don’t know which way to turn. 8.08pm BST 21 min: That’s a quite sensational finish from a sensational player. Craig Bellamy stands on the touchline open-mouthed, shell-shocked. 8.08pm BST GOAL! England 3-0 Wales (Saka 20) 20 min: Gordon jinks into space down the left, skinning Williams with ease. He’s got the option to feed Spence on the overlap, but goes infield instead. Anderson and Rice combine to shuttle the ball across to Saka, who drops a shoulder to come in from the left, sails past Brooks, and whips a gloriously unstoppable shot into the top left! Updated at 8.13pm BST 8.06pm BST 18 min: Rogers spins away from Cullen with absurd ease. But Cullen comes snapping back, doing just enough to stop Rogers and England launching yet another attack. 8.04pm BST 16 min: Saka and Konsa combine down the right and the ball rolls infield to Rogers, who spins and threads a shot towards the bottom right. Easy for Darlow, as Rogers doesn’t really catch it. But Davies let that happen all too easily. Wales need to get on it, quicksmart, or this is going to get ugly for them. England are sashaying around like they own the place. Which, to be fair, they do. 8.02pm BST 14 min: Nothing comes of the corner. But Wales are all over the show. England are swarming them. They need to recover some poise and quick. 8.01pm BST 13 min: Wales just couldn’t clear their lines at all. A lot of grim faces in bucket hats. Rogers with a goal and an assist already. Aston Villa 2-0 Wales. And then Arsenal nearly chip in, Saka skittering down the inside-right channel and shooting from an inviting position just inside the box. Rodon slides in to stop what was looking like 3-0. But it’s another corner. 7.59pm BST GOAL! England 2-0 Wales (Watkins 11) Rice’s delivery isn’t that great, but Wales don’t clear properly. Saka takes up possession on the left. His cross finds Rogers on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Rogers pings across the face of the goal, and Watkins can’t miss from a couple of yards. Wales have been all over the shop at the back, but England have been as good as the visiting defence has been bad. Updated at 8.06pm BST 7.57pm BST 10 min: Rice isn’t to be discouraged, though, and curls a cross in from the left. Ampadu is forced to eyebrow out for another England corner, which this time will come in from the right, courtesy of Rice again. 7.56pm BST 9 min: Rice whips to the near post. Konsa competes for the ball, and wants a penalty because Dasilva has a handful of his shirt. You’ve seen them given, even though it’d be soft. But not this time. The ball pings back to Rice, who slices horribly out of play for a goal kick. 7.55pm BST 8 min: Williams’ first act once back up is to track Gordon, who is slaloming down the left. He stops the cross, but at the expense of a corner. Rice to send it in. 7.54pm BST 7 min: Williams is clipped in the midfield by Spence, and goes down, taking an opportunity for Wales, who are reeling from that blow, to clear their heads. He’s back up soon enough. 7.53pm BST 5 min: That was a crisp finish by Rogers, but what wonderful work by Guehi, who could have been forgiven for giving that situation up – Darlow certainly thought the ball was going out for a goal kick – and got maximum reward for his intensity, persistence and ingenuity. You’ll not see a better assist all season. Updated at 7.57pm BST 7.51pm BST GOAL! England 1-0 Wales (Rogers 3) The corner’s hit long by Rice from the left. Stones rises high to head wide right … but Guehi refuses to let the ball roll out of play, stopping it on the byline, then spinning and whipping back low into the mixer in one smooth move. Rogers meets the ball six yards out, and steers a shot across Darlow and into the bottom left. What a start! Updated at 7.54pm BST 7.49pm BST 2 min: England’s response is excellent, Saka and Rogers combining down the inside-right channel and cutting back for Gordon, who shoots low diagonally from the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Darlow is forced to stick out a leg to stop the ball creeping into the bottom left, and the ball deflects out for a corner. From which … 7.48pm BST 1 min: Wales nick the ball off England within ten seconds of the restart, and Brooks drives hard at the England defence. He can’t burst through, but there’s a statement of intent from the visitors. 7.47pm BST Both anthems were met with plenty of pantomime boos, too, of course. It’s a derby. But there’s love as well, with captains Declan Rice and Ben Davies embracing, while the coaches Thomas Tuchel and Craig Bellamy also enjoy a pleasant exchange. But let’s see how long that love-in lasts, as England get the ball rolling. 7.45pm BST The teams emerge from the tunnel. Each player is accompanied by a fan living with dementia, the FA joining up with their official charity partner, the Alzheimer’s Society, to raise awareness of the condition. The point will be emphasised in the second half when the names on the back of the players’ shirts will be removed. As the anthems are played, it’s so heartwarming to see these 22 fans enjoying this emotionally uplifting experience. You can read more about this on the official England Football website. Updated at 7.46pm BST 7.31pm BST Thomas Tuchel is asked by ITV if he’d have gone with the same starting line-up had Harry Kane et al been fit. “Maybe … [smiles enigmatically] … we will never know … there was a high chance for that … they deserved it … but we will never know … what excites me is my team … we had good days in camp … it will be a difficult match against a strong opponent … a well-coached team … there are questions … a different structure to the teams we have played against … that is exciting … the lights are on … the pitch looks perfect … a Wembley home match … a lot of reasons to be excited … the competition is on to be in the squad … then to be on the pitch and stay in the squad … the players know that … they live up to it … I hope we can make another step today.” 7.23pm BST Wales striker Kieffer Moore talks to ITV. “The challenge is to really impose ourselves against this team … we have come a long way … no better opposition than England at Wembley … it’s about our intensity … how we impose ourselves … there’s no such thing as a friendly … amazing that we have 7,500 fans with us … we look forward to an exciting game.” 7.09pm BST Declan Rice, England’s captain for the night, speaks to ITV. “It’s an honour in [Harry Kane’s] absence … you can never take these moments for granted … it’s a massive game … a big one … hopefully we can build on what we did last camp … when you play England-Wales it’s always a fiery fixture … the history between us … got to keep pushing … energy … enthusiasm … keep playing with freedom … we need to win tonight and keep building momentum.” 7.02pm BST A reminder of how England fared in their last match … Related: Noni Madueke leads five-star England’s rout of Serbia with World Cup in sight … and this was Wales’ last competitive fixture. Related: Kieffer Moore’s first-half strike earns World Cup qualifying win for Wales in Kazakhstan 6.51pm BST England make four changes to their starting XI from the 5-0 rout of Serbia last month. Harry Kane, Reece James, Tino Livramento and Noni Madueke are all injured, so in come Ollie Watkins, John Stones, Djed Spence (making his first start) and Bukayo Saka. Declan Rice takes temporary ownership of the captain’s armband. James Trafford, Jarrell Quansah and Nico O’Reilly are on the bench hoping to win their first cap at some point tonight. Wales named an experimental side for the 0-1 defeat to Canada last month. Only Neco Williams, Ben Davies, Harry Wilson and David Brooks keep their shirts from that match. Craig Bellamy goes strong, with Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Kieffer Moore and Brennan Johnson all returning. 6.48pm BST The teams England: Pickford, Konsa, Stones, Guehi, Spence, Rice, Anderson, Saka, Rogers, Gordon, Watkins.Subs: Dean Henderson, Lewis-Skelly, Jordan Henderson, Kane, Eze, Rashford, Burn, Gibbs-White, Loftus-Cheek, Bowen, Quansah, O’Reilly, Trafford. Wales: Darlow, Williams, Ampadu, Rodon, Ben Davies, Dasilva, Brooks, Cullen, Wilson, Johnson, Moore.Subs: King, Mepham, Koumas, Rubin Colwill, Cabango, Jordan James, Harris, Thomas, Isaak Davies, Sheehan, Broadhead, Kpakio, Lawlor, Joel Colwill, Adam Davies. Referee: Urs Schnyder (Switzerland). Updated at 7.12pm BST 6.15pm BST Preamble Unfortunately for fans of the tîm pêl-droed cenedlaethol Cymru, the following article, published in this corner of the information superhighway nine years ago, is still completely relevant today. Related: When Wales last beat England – and taught them a lesson in humility Since Mark Hughes scored the winner for Wales against England in 1984, the two neighbours and rivals have met on the association-football pitch seven times. England have won all seven of those matches, to the cumulative tune of 14-1. The last three of those games, during those aforementioned last nine years, count for 8-1 of that score. So there’s a good reason England are hot favourites tonight, not least because they’re at home … and Wales haven’t won this particular fixture since 1977 – Leighton James slotting a penalty after being fouled by Peter Shilton – and then before that 1936, when participants at Molineux including Ted Drake, Cliff Bastin, Bryn Jones and Jimmy Murphy wore black armbands to mourn the recent death of King George V. England is not their happiest hunting ground. But Having Said All That dept. Wales have only lost twice in 11 matches under Craig Bellamy. Only one of those losses was in a competitive fixture, and in that they came from three down against Belgium only to ship the point they surely deserved right at the end. Plus they’ve been good to watch, and Bellamy says he and his team are turning up this evening with a view to having a right go. So this could be fun. Kick-off is at 7.45pm UK time. It’s on! Related: ‘We’re not here as tourists’: Bellamy insists Wales will go on attack against England Updated at 6.52pm BST