England hammered Iran 6-2 on Monday in an emphatic FIFA World Cup.

England dominated this game, scoring six goals and having 79% ball possession.

It was a strong performance from Saka who won the man of the match award.

Concerns though will be raised about the Three Lions defending. They sloppily conceded two goals to Taremi through defensive lapses in concentration. They got the job done today but cannot afford this when stronger tests in the tournament arrive.

England had come close to taking the lead in the Group B opener, with Harry Maguire heading against the crossbar, before Bellingham, 19, steered in a header from a Luke Shaw cross in the 35th minute.

Eight minutes later, England doubled their lead when Maguire climbed highest from a corner to head down for Saka to score.

Sterling flicked in a cross by captain Harry Kane in first-half stoppage time before Saka bamboozled Iran's defence and made it 4-0 in the 62nd minute. Mehdi Taremi narrowed the gap for Iran three minutes later but Rashford made it 5-1 and Grealish, also coming off the bench, scored England's sixth.

Taremi scored a consolation second goal for Iran from the penalty spot in the dying seconds.

Iran will look to learn from the lessons ahead of their game against Wales on Friday.

Source Al Jazeera

BDST: 2127 HRS, NOV 21, 2022
MSK