England blow hot and cold against Nigeria after Gary Cahill’s quick start

The encouraging news for England is that Harry Kane is looking sharp, Raheem Sterling seems remarkably unaffected by all the recent scrutiny and, if Gareth Southgate’s team can play in the World Cup as they did here during the opening 45 minutes, perhaps it is not too outlandish to think they can make a decent impression in Russia, after all.

Unfortunately that tells only part of the story and, with England, there always seems to be a cloud attached to every silver lining. Two-nil ahead at the break Southgate’s team looked on course to win with ease. As it was, the England manager must have been startled by their deterioration after the break when Nigeria, such obliging opponents throughout the opening 45 minutes, pulled one back through Alex Iwobi and could conceivably have saved themselves.

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