BLOG - 2014 European Under-17 Championship: Malta 0-3 England - Match Report

England eased past Malta with a 3-0 win in a match which had contenders for both the goal and miss of the tournament. The Three Lions may be disappointed not to have won by a greater margin but they conserved energy for the later matches that will decide Group A.

England played their strongest possible side and were unlucky not to score within the first four minutes as Armstrong, Roberts, Sims and Ledson all went close. They were looking to quickly assert their dominance over their hosts, who were especially shaky down the left side where the pacy Sims and Kenny were regularly getting in behind their defence. A few quiet minutes followed as England took some liberties on the ball after their unpressurised opening before Roberts picked up the ball 35 yards out, accelerated forward and shot low into the corner from 25 yards.

Predictably, England were superior in all aspects for the whole match, with the most visually obvious difference being pace. Ryan Ledson was putting on a display in passing over all ranges, while Onomah, Sims and Roberts had the beating of their opponents. It was from a Roberts run into the box that Armstrong scored, pivoting on his team-mate's pull-back from the right to put England 2-0 up after 25 minutes. The remainder of the half was all English dominance as they looked to add to their tally and the Maltese's most impressive player was their goalkeeper Azzopardi.

England began the second half with the same intensity and technical quality of play and it was star man Roberts who got the third and best of the English goals as he ran in from a wide-right position and speared the ball into the top left corner from 30 yards with a replica of a goal he scored against Armenia in the first round of qualification. Having played in Monday's FA Youth Cup final, he was substituted moments later and his departure was a sign to the England players that the job was done. Their intensity notably dropped as a result, although chances continued to arrive (and pass by) from then on as the England full-backs camped in the Maltese half. Callum Cooke, who came on for the other player to have played in Monday's game, Dominic Solanke, had the best chances, poking wide from six yards out, and having his shot well saved, while Armstrong hit the angle of bar and post.

In the end, England were content if not happy with a scoreline which flattered the hosts, who will most likely lose both their following games to greater scorelines. England, meanwhile, will look forward to the more demanding tests of Turkey and Portugal in the games that will ultimately decide the group.

With thanks to Samuel King, who you can follow on twitter @KingSRV