Tunisia 1-2 England: Harry Kane's late goal secures World Cup win

Published on: 19 June 2018

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Highlights: Tunisia 1-2 England 2018 Fifa World Cup on the BBC

Host: Russia Dates: 14 June - 15 July

Live: Coverage across BBC TV, BBC Radio and BBC Sport website with further coverage on Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app.

Harry Kane's stoppage-time winner ensured England started their World Cup campaign with victory after Tunisia threatened to snatch a point in Volgograd.

Kane scored his second goal of the game with a clever header as Gareth Southgate's side recorded England's first win in the opening game of a major tournament since they beat Paraguay in the 2006 World Cup.

England's captain gave them the reward they deserved for a brilliant start by turning in the opener in the 11th minute after Tunisia keeper Mouez Hassen, who went off injured in the first half, clawed out John Stones' header.

England ran Tunisia ragged in that spell but were punished for missing a host of chances when Ferjani Sassi equalised from the penalty spot against the run of play after Kyle Walker was penalised for an elbow on Fakhreddine Ben Youssef.

Tunisia dug in to frustrate England in the second half but Kane was the match-winner with a late header from Harry Maguire's flick, justice being done after referee Wilmar Roldan and the video assistant referee (VAR) had failed to spot him being wrestled to the ground twice in the penalty area.

England play Panama, who lost 3-0 to Belgium earlier on Monday, in their next Group G game on Sunday, which kicks off at 13:00 BST and will be shown live on the BBC.

    'Lots of positives but Sterling must improve' Southgate would have been 'proud' of players with draw How social media reacted to the game

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Harry Kane heads last-gasp England winnerKane rescues wasteful England

England's first-half display contained much to admire but it was a sign of their wastefulness in front of goal that it took the injury-time intervention from Kane to seal victory.

England flew at Tunisia and racked up chance after chance, with only Kane's early goal after Hassen clawed out Stones' header to show for it.

Dele Alli saw a header deflected on to the woodwork, while Jesse Lingard suffered a similar fate as well as seeing Hassen somehow block another effort with an outstretched leg.

Jordan Henderson had a shot saved and other chances were spurned as England fashioned some magnificent approach play only to fail to apply the final flourish.

    Listen: World Cup Daily podcast How did the players rate? 'Harry the hero' - BBC pundits react to England win

It was remarkable that Tunisia reached half-time on level terms as they were often bewildered by England's pace and movement before being spared by their generosity in front of goal.

Luckily for England, they have a world-class striker with a golden touch in Kane, who was coolness personified to carefully direct in the winner.

England can now move on to face Panama in Nizhny Novgorod with confidence and momentum.

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Watch how Match of the Day studio reacted to Harry Kane's winnerSterling the enigma once more

It was 983 days since Raheem Sterling's last goal for England as he stepped out to face Tunisia - and that barren run continues after another night of international frustration for the Manchester City forward.

Sterling's attitude and ability is never in doubt, never ducking a challenge or dropping his intensity, but the numbers are simply not stacking up at England level.

He became more assured in front of goal in Manchester City's history-making 100-point Premier League title win last season. He seems, however, to feel the old anxieties with England.

Sterling was grateful that a glaring miss from Lingard's pass was rescued by a linesman's flag against the Manchester United midfielder, but he almost tried too hard as the game progressed and was running up blind alleys before he was replaced by Marcus Rashford after 68 minutes.

Sterling has now failed to score in his past 21 England appearances, while attempting 24 shots - a very grim statistic.

He received a warm embrace from Southgate as he went off, but it is time a rare natural ability was transformed into end product for his country.

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Tunisia penalty pegs back EnglandEngland suffer VAR farce

England complained long and loud about the penalty awarded against Walker, but had much greater cause for grievance over the failure of VAR to give them two spot-kicks of their own.

Kane was the victim in incidents plucked straight from the world of wrestling in each half, and on neither occasion did any of the officials - on the pitch or in the VAR booth - see fit to intervene in what were obvious penalties.

In the first half, amid some heavy traffic, Kane was dragged crudely to the ground by Sassi and suffered similar treatment after the break, only for the incident to be ignored once again by Roldan and his assistants.

Justice was done in the end, but these were glaring errors.

It was made clear in a pre-tournament referees' briefing that such grappling would be taken seriously and punished, so England have every right to ask why this edict was not carried out.

VAR is undoubtedly a progressive development, but if it is applied with such inconsistency it will stretch its credibility to breaking point.

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'You like wrestling?' Pundits analyse Harry Kane penalty appealsCareless England must wise up

England's domination of the first half was almost total, but they somehow contrived to allow Tunisia to raise themselves off the floor by virtue of rank carelessness from Southgate's side.

Maguire was a culprit, conceding possession in dangerous areas in a manner that will be punished ruthlessly by teams with more attacking quality than Tunisia.

While England felt hard done by with Tunisia's penalty, Walker naively got himself into a very poor position.

Ultimately, England did not suffer the ultimate punishment of it costing them points, but they have certainly had an early warning.

Southgate, a defender by trade, will surely have noticed the flaws and will be working hard to address them at England's Zelenogorsk training base.

Man of the match - Harry Kane (England)

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Harry Kane scores England's first goal of World Cup

Kane became the first England player to score twice in a World Cup match since Gary Lineker against Cameroon in Italy in 1990.

Captain Kane is able - the stats

    England scored more than once for the first time in 10 World Cup matches, since a 2-2 draw against Sweden in 2006 England are unbeaten in their seven meetings with African nations in the World Cup (W4, D3), although this was only the second such match in which they failed to keep a clean sheet England had six shots on target in the first half, their most in the opening 45 minutes of a World Cup match since the 1966 semi-final against Portugal (also six). Harry Kane has scored in his past four games for England, his best run for the national team. Kane has scored 15 goals in 25 appearances for England. The last player to score more in their opening 25 games for England was Gary Lineker (20). England's Kieran Trippier created six goalscoring opportunities, more than any other player has managed in the tournament. Tunisia's Ferjani Sassi scored the first penalty against England in regular play in a World Cup match since Gabriel Batistuta for Argentina in 1998. Tunisia's converted penalty was their only shot on target in the match. Tunisia are without a win in their past 12 World Cup matches (D4 L8), since winning their first match in the competition in 1978.
    Line-ups Match Stats Live Text

Line-ups

Tunisia

    22HassenSubstituted forBen Mustaphaat 15'minutes

    11Bronn

    2S Ben Youssef

    4Meriah

    12Maâloul

    17Skhiri

    8F Ben Youssef

    13Sassi

    9Badri

    23SlitiSubstituted forBen Amorat 74'minutes

    10KhazriSubstituted forKhalifaat 85'minutes

Substitutes

    1Ben Mustapha

    3Benalouane

    5Haddadi

    6Bedoui

    7Khaoui

    14Ben Amor

    15Khalil

    16Mathlouthi

    18Srarfi

    19Khalifa

    20Chaalali

    21Nagguez

England

    1Pickford

    2WalkerBooked at 33mins

    5Stones

    6Maguire

    8Henderson

    12Trippier

    7LingardSubstituted forDierat 90+3'minutes

    20AlliSubstituted forLoftus-Cheekat 80'minutes

    18Young

    10SterlingSubstituted forRashfordat 68'minutes

    9Kane

Substitutes

    3Rose

    4Dier

    11Vardy

    13Butland

    14Welbeck

    15Cahill

    16Jones

    17Delph

    19Rashford

    21Loftus-Cheek

    22Alexander-Arnold

    23Pope

Referee:

Wilmar Roldán

Attendance:

41,064

Match Stats

Home TeamTunisiaAway TeamEngland

Possession

Home39%

Away61%

Shots

Home6

Away18

Shots on Target

Home1

Away8

Corners

Home2

Away7

Fouls

Home14

Away8

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, Tunisia 1, England 2.

Full TimePosted at 90'+5'

Second Half ends, Tunisia 1, England 2.

SubstitutionPosted at 90'+3'

Substitution, England. Eric Dier replaces Jesse Lingard.

Goal!Posted at 90'+1'

Goal! Tunisia 1, England 2. Harry Kane (England) header from the left side of the six yard box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Harry Maguire following a corner.

Posted at 90'+1'

Attempt missed. Harry Maguire (England) with an attempt from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Kieran Trippier with a cross following a corner.

Posted at 90'+1'

Corner, England. Conceded by Mohamed Ben Amor.

Posted at 87'

Offside, Tunisia. Ali Maâloul tries a through ball, but Saber Khalifa is caught offside.

Posted at 86'

Marcus Rashford (England) wins a free kick on the right wing.

Posted at 86'

Foul by Yassine Meriah (Tunisia).

Posted at 85'

Delay over. They are ready to continue.

SubstitutionPosted at 85'

Substitution, Tunisia. Saber Khalifa replaces Wahbi Khazri.

Posted at 84'

Delay in match Farouk Ben Mustapha (Tunisia) because of an injury.

Posted at 83'

Foul by John Stones (England).

Posted at 83'

Farouk Ben Mustapha (Tunisia) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 83'

Corner, England. Conceded by Fakhreddine Ben Youssef.

Posted at 81'

Jordan Henderson (England) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 81'

Foul by Ellyes Skhiri (Tunisia).

SubstitutionPosted at 80'

Substitution, England. Ruben Loftus-Cheek replaces Dele Alli.

Posted at 79'

Attempt missed. Ashley Young (England) right footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high from a direct free kick.

Posted at 78'

Dele Alli (England) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 78'

Foul by Syam Ben Youssef (Tunisia).

SubstitutionPosted at 74'

Substitution, Tunisia. Mohamed Ben Amor replaces Naim Sliti.

Posted at 73'

Foul by Ashley Young (England).

Posted at 73'

Fakhreddine Ben Youssef (Tunisia) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 72'

Attempt missed. Naim Sliti (Tunisia) left footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Ferjani Sassi.

Posted at 72'

Attempt blocked. Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Dylan Bronn with a through ball.

Posted at 71'

Offside, England. Jordan Henderson tries a through ball, but Dele Alli is caught offside.

Posted at 69'

Attempt missed. Kieran Trippier (England) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left from a direct free kick.

SubstitutionPosted at 68'

Substitution, England. Marcus Rashford replaces Raheem Sterling.

Posted at 68'

Harry Kane (England) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 68'

Foul by Yassine Meriah (Tunisia).

Posted at 68'

Dele Alli (England) wins a free kick on the left wing.

Posted at 68'

Foul by Ferjani Sassi (Tunisia).

Posted at 64'

Foul by Ashley Young (England).

Posted at 64'

Fakhreddine Ben Youssef (Tunisia) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 61'

Foul by Raheem Sterling (England).

Posted at 61'

Yassine Meriah (Tunisia) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 61'

Attempt missed. John Stones (England) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Kieran Trippier with a cross following a corner.

Posted at 60'

Corner, England. Conceded by Ali Maâloul.

Posted at 57'

Foul by Harry Maguire (England).

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goal

Source: bbc.com

Source: bbc.com

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