England cruised to a routine 3-0 win over Wales in their friendly at Wembley as Thomas Tuchel’s side continued their preparations for the World Cup.
The Three Lions ran riot over Craig Bellamy’s side, who never quite got going as England opened the scoring inside the first two minutes thanks to Rogers’ first England goal, before Ollie Watkins grabbed a second soon after.
Bukayo Saka curled home a fantastic third to hand Wales boss Craig Bellamy his third defeat, while England continued their impressive recent form.
How did England beat Wales?
Lightning-quick start
England absolutely flew out of the traps at a sell-out Wembley to leave Wales shell-shocked. An early corner nodded on by John Stones at the back post and then kept alive by Marc Guehi, who swept it across for Rogers to slide home.
Just seven minutes later, Wales failed to deal with Bukayo Saka’s cross, allowing Declan Rice to knock the ball back into the box – with the Aston Villa man bundling home.
Wales couldn’t live with England at times as Saka tormented them with relentless runs down the right wing – and then curled in a fantastic third from an angle with just 20 minutes gone.
Tuchel was going wild on the sidelines – there’s no doubt he was delighted with how quickly his side started the game after criticism towards his side in recent months.
England have had some timid displays during the German’s tenure but now we’re starting to see the potential of what his team can be.
It capped off an incredible run of success for England against Wales after an eighth successive victory over their rivals with an aggregate of 17-1.
Key stats
| Stats | England | Wales |
| Posession | 67% | 33% |
| Clear cut chances | 4 | 0 |
| Passing accuracy | 93.7% | 84.9% |
| Total shots | 14 | 10 |
| Shots on target | 5 | 1 |
Rogers runs the show
He only made his England debut last year but now the Villa star now feels very much like part of the furniture under Thomas Tuchel.
The 23-year-old is said to have admirers across the Premier League and you can see why after his dominant display in the No 10 role on Tuesday night.
After scoring in the opening minutes, Rogers went on to pull the strings in midfield, with many of England’s key attacks going through him as he had five touches in the opposition box in the first half alone.
He helped England win the ball back in their high press, while also cracking off shots and laying off passes to his team-mates, creating one big chance in the opening period and having two shots on target – including his goal.
That form continued in the second half as he rattled the crossbar from close range – despite being offside. He finished with six touches in the opposition box, winning three duels and creating two chances.
He is making a serious case to be one of the starters for the World Cup next year and is clearly liked by Tuchel after playing him for the full 90 minutes in the 5-0 win over Serbia during the last international break.
Rogers was superb in that game too as he provided an assist and he gaining some serious confidence on the international stage.
Tuchel plays a strong team
It was only a friendly but England boss Tuchel showed he was taking this game very seriously indeed by playing a very strong starting XI.
Captain Harry Kane might have been on the bench and Jude Bellingham wasn’t in the squad, but the German still played a pretty much first choice back line with Stones and Ezri Konsa his starting centre-backs.
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Declan Rice was deployed in the middle of the park with Elliot Anderson and he played an attacking front four of Saka, Rogers, Anthony Gordon and Watkins.
It’s clear Tuchel is keen to bring some momentum to the England team as they build up to the World Cup and to do that he wants to keep a similar group together.
England looked like they were enjoying themselves out there as they got into their groove quickly and were then able to keep the ball with ease for most of the game.
They’ll have to keep the consistency going when they travel to Latvia for a World Cup qualifier next up.
Saka claims record
He was out for about a month with an injury this season but Saka now looks back to his best and he was superb in the first half against Wales.
Before this game, he had two goals in as many games for the Gunners and he secured himself another strike in spectacular fashion against Wales.
Midway through the opening period, he took the ball on the right and cut in a few times before stroking an absolute peach into the top left hand corner.
It was a fabulously well-taken goal and he also snatched a landmark and became Arsenal’s highest ever scorer for the Three Lions with 13 strikes for the national team.
The previous record holder was Cliff Bastin, who managed 12 goals for England while playing for Arsenal between 1931 and 1938.
Saka had a top game against Wales as he completed 26 out of 30 passes, putting in five crosses, having four shots and seven touches in the opposition box.