Trio star as England beat Croatia in Dallas | International | News

Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka provided assists and Noni Madueke won a penalty in a fine evening for our Gunners as England opened up their World Cup campaign with a 4-2 win over Croatia.

Rice and Madueke were both selected in Thomas Tuchel’s starting XI and both made a big impact in an action-packed first half in Dallas.

Having already been a bright spark down the right, Noni was then fouled by Luka Modric inside the penalty area following a corner, prompting Clement Turpin to point to the spot.

Harry Kane stepped up and saw his spot kick saved by Dominik Livakovic, but an encroachment in the box by Josko Gvardiol forced a retake, which the Bayern Munich forward converted.

Martin Baturina equalised for Croatia before England restored their lead. A fantastic corner from Rice, something Arsenal supporters have become accustomed to, found the head of Kane to make it 2-1.

But Croatia pegged England back once more as Petar Musa powered home from Ivan Perisic’s header to leave things all square heading into the break.

SUPER SUB SAKA

England came out with a point to prove and restored their lead two minutes after the restart as Jude Bellingham fired home from the angle.

Rice’s corners continued to cause problems for the Croatians. Our number 41 twice found Nico O’Reilly inside the box but the Manchester City full-back couldn’t find the net. Rice then went close himself, curling the ball with his right foot, to force Livakovic into a good save.

Thomas Tuchel then made a triple sub, bringing on Saka for Madueke, who had been a thorn in the Croatia defence all afternoon.

With five minutes remaining, Saka found time and space on the right and picked out Marcus Rashford perfectly as the Manchester United forward curled into the net. Eberechi Eze was an unused sub as England now gear up to face Ghana on Tuesday, June 23.

WHEN WILL OUR GUNNERS PLAY AGAIN?

After a whirlwind first round of group stage matches, our interest in the competition pauses for a few days.

You’ll have to wait until the early hours of Saturday morning as Brazil take on Haiti at 1.30am UK time, in Philadelphia.

Gabriel Magalhaes played the full 90 minutes in Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Morocco, with Gabriel Martinelli remaining on the bench for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Later that day, two more of our Gunners could be in action. First up is Viktor Gyokeres, who netted in Sweden’s 5-1 win over Tunisia, as his nation faces the Netherlands at 6pm.

Then, at 9pm, Kai Havertz and Germany take on the Ivory Coast. Kai got off to a fast start, bagging a brace in his nation’s 7-1 victory over Curacao on Sunday, June 14.