Bukayo Saka scored his first senior goal as England defeated Austria 1-0 in their first Euro 2020 warm-up friendly.
A tight first half saw Jude Bellingham waste three chances from set pieces but England’s pressure paid off in the 56th minute, as Bellingham intercepted Sasa Kalajdzic and teed up Grealish to unleash a counter-attack which he eventually rolled across for Saka to lash in on arrival at speed for his first senior goal.
Austria threatened throughout whilst producing immense pressure off the ball but England ultimately dug deep defensively to cling on for the win, despite Trent Alexander-Arnold suffering a potential thigh injury in the closing minutes which could force him out of the squad.
Speaking post-match to ITV, England manager – Gareth Southgate was cautious as to Alexander-Arnold’s chances of remaining in the squad, commenting: “We’ll have to assess him over the next 24 hours. I think thigh but the medical team are assessing him.
“We’ll have to see. It’s not a good sign to see him have to walk off as he did. We’ll know more in 24 to 48 hours.”
Southgate also refused to be drawn on who could replace him until the ‘full extent’ of his injury is confirmed.
Gareth Southgate opted to start England in a 4-2-3-1 formation instead of his more traditional 3-4-3 or 4-3-3 formations, which nearly paid dividends just four minutes in as Alexander-Arnold cut in from the right after meeting Kane’s volleyed cross but his shot was deflected wide.
The resulting corner found Bellingham who headed his shot on goal only for it to fly straight into Daniel Bachmann’s arms.
Bellingham then saw two further chances from set pieces go begging as he flicked Jesse Lingard’s rebound tenth minute shot in, only for it to be ruled out for a foul then his 16th minute rebound shot from a corner was deflected and saved.
Saka and Kane then saw shots go begging from set pieces, whilst Christoph Baumgartner saw two chances go begging in the eighth and 35th minutes for Austria, although his second effort was blocked by Tyrone Mings with a corner eventually finding Kalajdzic whose shot was saved by Jordan Pickford.
Austria eventually finished the first half on top as Baumgartner saw 41st minute shot blocked by Mings with his penalty appeals for handball waved away by referee, Lawrence Visser, in the last major action of the first half.
England however were the better team in the opening stages of the second half as they repeatedly threatened, only for a tough disciplined Austria defence to keep them off goal for the opening ten minutes.
Grealish triggered the decisive goal as he intercepted Kalajdzic on halfway line and found Kane to play across to Lingard, who slipped Grealish through but the Villa midfielder was fouled although he was able to roll the ball away for Saka to lash in from close range to put England ahead.
Southgate rung the changes on the hour mark as Tyrone Mings, Declan Rice, Lingard and Kane were replaced by Ben Godfrey, James Ward-Prowse, Ollie Watkins and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Godfrey three minutes later almost gifted Austria a bizarre equaliser as he fired a backpass on the turn towards Pickford, only for his Everton teammate to not be in position as he raced back and cleared just before the ball rolled into the empty net.
Marcel Sabitzer and Marco Friedl both saw chances to equalise go begging as Sabitzer’s shot hit the bar in the 65th minute, whilst Friedl curled over via a deflection eight minutes later with Sabitzer then seeing a second chance in the 81st minute go begging as his shot was blocked by Pickford.
Southgate’s Three Lions eventually clung on for victory despite losing Alexander-Arnold in the 88th minute to a potential thigh injury, which could force him to withdraw from the squad and Euro 2020 if the injury is serious and open up the opportunity for one of Lingard or Ward-Prowse to be recalled to boost midfield options
England will now play Romania on Sunday 6 June 2021 at 5pm BST in their second and final warm-up friendly ahead of their Euro 2020 opener against Croatia at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 13 June.
Austria meanwhile take on Slovakia in their final warm-up game that same day.
Teams
England: Jordan Pickford (GK), Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kiernan Trippier, Declan Rice (Ward-Prowse 60′), Tyrone Mings (Godfrey 60′), Conor Coady, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Harry Kane (Watkins 60′), Jack Grealish (White 71′), Jesse Lingard (Calvert-Lewin 60′)
Substitutes: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Sam Johnstone (GK), Ben Godfrey, Kalvin Phillips, Ben White, Ollie Watkins, James Ward-Prowse, Jordan Henderson, Jadon Sancho, Aaron Ramsdale (GK)
Austria: Daniel Bachmann (GK), Aleksandar Dragovic, Martin Hinteregger, David Alaba, Marcel Sabitzer, Christoph Baumgartner, Stefan Lainer, Xaver Schlager Konrad Laimer, Sasa Kalajdzic, Marco Friedl
Subs: Alexander Schlager (GK), Pavao Pervan (GK), Andreas Ulmer, Stefan Posch, Stefan Ilsanker, Florian Grillitsch, Michael Gregoritsch, Julian Baumgartlinger, Philipp Lienhart, Christopher Trimmel, Louis Schaub, Alessandro Schopf
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