John Stones equalized for England with 6 minutes from halftime to help them to a draw against Hungary in the European World Cup Qualifiers match held at Wembley on Tuesday night. The match ended 1-1 with Hungary’s Roland Sallai opening the scoring in the 24th minute.
England looked disjointed from the beginning. And captain, Harry Kane was off the pace in the game both physically and mentally. Meanwhile, Hungary created counter-attacking opportunities after robbing England of the ball.
Hungary got a penalty in the 24th minute after Luke Shaw attempted clearance lead to a high boot on Loic Nego. The referee did not think twice before awarding the penalty. Roland Sallai comfortably scored the resulting penalty, wrong-footing Jordan Pickford.
John Stones equalizes
After the goal, Jack Grealish was instrumental in England creating anything useful. The Man City attacking midfielder was crucial in the build-up to the equalizing goal from his club teammate John Stones. Jack Grealish won the free kick in the right-hand side of England’s attack. Phil Foden whipped the ball in which clipped off Declan Rice before landing for John Stones to stretch and put the ball into the back of the net.
England could have grabbed the lead if not for Gulasci’s spectacular save from Raheem Sterling’s header in the near post.
John Stones very nearly secured the win for England in the 62nd minute when his header just went off target. Phil Foden once again delivered a perfect ball from a set piece. 8 minutes later Gulasci made another spectacular save off Raheem Sterling’s effort in a 1v1 situation to keep Hungary in the game.
England close to World Cup spot
The match ended 1-1 with England nearly securing qualification for the World Cup. England now has to face Albania and San Marino in the next two Qualifying games. Barring any hiccups, in those fixtures, England is safe to go through to the showpiece tournament next year.
Poland is close behind in the second spot with their win-over Albania. Lewandowski and co. are three points behind England and have an inferior goal difference.
