Harry is England's hero again, but this time it's Maguire, not Kane, who has Three Lions roaring

Matt Jones - Editor 20:18 07/07/2018
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  • England will play in the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time in 28 years after they swept Sweden aside 2-0 in Samara.

    Harry Maguire headed the opener from a corner as the Three Lions roared into an early lead. Dele Alli popped up with a second header from Jesse Lingard’s fine delivery midway through the second half to give Gareth Southgate’s side a comfortable cushion.

    Jordan Pickford was called upon to make three important stops during the 90 minutes but England were well worth their win.

    Here, we analyse the performance of Harry Maguire, who was a factor at both ends of the field.

    STATISTICS

    Goals – 1

    Assists – 0

    Shots – 2

    Shots on target – 1

    Touches – 68

    Clearances – 7

    Key passes – 2

    Aerials won – 10

    Fouls – 3

    30-SECOND REPORT

    Harry is a name we’re often used to showering praise on during this World Cup when it comes to England, but it’s usually striker Harry Kane, who leads the Golden Boot race. In Samara on Saturday though it was Harry Maguire who was England’s hero as he affected the game in both boxes, his towering header put the Three Lions on their way, while he was imperious defensively.

    GOT RIGHT

    Rising to the occasion – His aerial dominance was on show at both ends of the pitch, rising above the hopeless leap of Emil Forsberg to nod England ahead. Maguire also went about his day job diligently too as he won a team-leading 10 duels in the air.

    All-round impact – As well as causing mismatches in both penalty boxes, Maguire was a constant headache for Sweden. His two key passes were second only to Lingard’s four, while his passing accuracy of 84.6 per cent was third-highest among England’s starting XI.

    GOT WRONG

    Heavy-handed – You can’t criticise him much, but his yellow card will have irked both him and his manager, although it was his first of the tournament, which is unusual for a combative centre-back. He committed three fouls, which was the most by any England player.

    VERDICT

    Defenders have stood out for England in Russia, with John Stones bagging a brace in the 6-1 hammering of Panama, while Kieran Trippier’s crossing has earned high praise. Here it was Maguire’s turn to shine as his bullet header put England into a lead they rarely looked like losing. At 6ft 4in, he towers above any teammate and he was head and shoulders the best defender on the pitch.

    RATING: 8/10

    All statistics are compiled using whoscored.com

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