Norway 0 - 1 England

Norway 'Stay' 1 - 0 down to England

Stay was the Norwegian entry to the Eurovision Song Contest and Stay was the word coming from Egil Olsen in the Norwegian dugout. England went one goal to the good thanks to a sublime Ashley Young finish and Norway stayed put for the remaining 80 minutes.

Roy Hodgson’s men lined up quite defensively with Andy Carroll playing as the sole striker. Carroll's aerial prowess was ever-present as it took just four minutes for Carroll to get overexcited heading wide of the mark. Gerrard was rock solid in the centre of the park for the opening 20 minutes, but began to give away possession cheaply as the half wore on. At the stroke of half-time it was a routine substitution that saw Gerrard give way to Gareth Barry.

Barry, whose fitness had come into question, lasted little more than 25 minutes. Barry was replaced by Jordan Henderson after complaining of strain to the groin.

Young subbed for someone younger

The other substitution of note was Young leaving the field to be replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain who made his fiery debut. Oxlade-Chamberlain made some exciting runs but without an end product. It was Young, who perhaps didn’t have the pace of Oxlade-Chamberlain but did have the experience to finish. This was the difference between the two players.

Young’s goal came about from a good old fashioned long ball over the top. Young ran to the edge of the penalty area and placed the ball onto his right foot ready to score. Young had us all fooled including the Norwegian defence. He skipped past his man and dribbled the ball into the box, his finish was struck left footed and into the far corner. This made it 6 goals for Young and 1 – 0 to England. The game looked set to be a rout from here on out, but no man in a changed blue England strip could double the tally.

Robert Green, who hadn’t played for England since his famous day against the USA, will grow in confidence after springing together a few good saves and earning England a clean sheet. Rob Green will certainly come up against stiffer opposition should he pick up a cap in Euro 12. As for the opposition, the best routine of the night to come out of Norway came from Tooji and his backing dancers.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOdRFtwTzb8 

England: Green, Jones (^Kelly), Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Parker (^Walcott), Gerrard (^Barry (^Henderson)), Milner, Young (^Oxlade-Chamberlain), Downing (^Pacman Johnson), Carroll

Norway: Jarstein, Hogli (^Ruud), Demidov, Hangeland, Riise, Tettey (^Jenssen), Elyounoussi, Henriksen (^Berisha), G Pedersen (^Grindheim), Braaten (^Huseklepp), Moa

Goals

England: Young

Man of the Match: Tooji

He didn't play, but then again, neither did the Norwegians.