The Verdict: Hackett praises 'excellent work' as England romp to Czech Republic win

After coming close to ending Spain's epic and record-breaking unbeaten run at Wembley, before La Roja again punished the Three Lions late on in a match, England needed a strong performance against the Czech Republic in order to restore some belief and confidence.

England seize the initiative

With such a quick turnaround of games in this international break, a good result for either side would help move them up to second in Group A3 were Spain to have beaten Croatia in the other match to be played on Tuesday evening.

Perhaps with one eye on the upcoming fixtures, Thomas Tuchel had made four changes to his starting XI, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Lewis Hall, Trevoh Chalobah, and Morgan Rogers coming in for Ezri Konsa, Jarell Quansah, Jude Bellingham, and Nico O'Reilly.

Although England had enjoyed 73% possession in the opening quarter hour, and seen Rogers hit the woodwork with Bukayo Saka's follow-up being cleared off the line, the hosts still had three presentable chances themselves, two from Pavel Sulc, who would soon be front and centre in this match.

That's because the Czech No.15 saw red after just 24 minutes.

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'Nailed-on red card'

"Sulc went down the back of Elliot Anderson's Achilles, and the referee initially issued a yellow card," Hackett noted.

"That was a nailed-on red card and met the criteria for Serious Foul Play. The law states: A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play. Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.

"After VAR rightly intervened, the referee went to the monitor, and the subsequent red card saw Sulc walk straight down the tunnel.

"Excellent work from the VAR, Fedayi San, and referee, Halil Umut Meler."

Numbers could've been evened up after a reckless challenge

That was a blow that the hosts were never likely to recover from, and so it proved. England poured forward at every opportunity, having eight efforts at goal after Sulc's 13th-minute attempt.

With 10 minutes until half-time, the Czechs felt that the numbers should've been evened up when Myles Lewis-Skelly was adjudged to have been reckless with one of his challenges.

"One of the Czech coaches has gone into the book for his protests," Hackett said. "He thought it should have been a red for Lewis-Skelly.

"Though the England man's challenge was reckless, it was correctly judged to be worthy of a yellow card by the referee."

Directly after half-time, a delicious cross from Alexander-Arnold was headed back in the direction it came from by Anthony Gordon, and nestled in the far corner of the net.

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Gordon's third goal in three games

The Barcelona man's third goal in three England internationals was important, as the Three Lions had avoided defeat in their last seven matches when scoring first in the Nations League.

Not since a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands in the competition on June 6th, 2019, had England taken the lead before going on to lose a game.

The hosts needed to find some impetus from somewhere because they were being passed off the pitch for long periods, with Anderson and Marc Guehi imperious in possession.

Man City's dogged midfielder ended the match with 105 touches and a 90.1% pass completion, whilst his defensive club mate managed 108 touches and an incredible 98% completion. 

Kane on target yet again

Even that wasn't the best on the night as Trevoh Chalobah posted 98.7% success, after completing 78 of his 79 passes.

A second England goal was always coming, and after four more efforts were spurned by the visitors, who else but Harry Kane blasted home from close range to end the game as a contest with just over 20 minutes to play.

That was the cue for a raft of substitutions from both sides, and if there's one area that will have disappointed Tuchel, it will have been the inability to extend the lead further, after another six efforts came and went before the end of the game.

Jason Pettigrove has been the features writer for Flashscore since 2025, utilising Opta data to form the basis of his articles. He has previously worked for high-profile football clubs, news and media outlets, both in print and digital, and can usually be found watching FC Barcelona when time permits. You can read more of his pieces here.