English national media deliver Lewis Hall verdict & are all saying the same thing about former Newcastle star
Bazoumana Toure scored his third goal of the season and third international goal for Ivory Coast in the AFCON qualifiers on Tuesday.
Lewis Hall earned his fifth England cap to help his country to a 2-0 Nations League win over Czechia on Tuesday night.
Hall played the full match in Prague as his former Newcastle United teammate Anthony Gordon scored his third goal in as many matches for England before Harry Kane added a second in a 2-0 win.
Afterwards, Hall said: “A professional performance, we didn’t really start the game how we wanted to. We wanted to start on the front foot, not that [the start] was bad by any means, [but] we wanted to play with a little bit more tempo. When they went down to 10 men, it was easier to do that.
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“At half-time we weren’t disappointed with the performance as such, but we knew we could move the ball a bit quicker and create more opportunities and we did that right in the second half.
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“Trent [Alexander-Arnold] put a quality ball in and Ant finished it off. From then, we were in control of the whole game. The other one from Harry, was a Harry finish really, bottom corner. When you have these types of players, you’re going to create chances and score goals, and we did that in the end.
“We’ve come here and done what we needed to do. We just need to recover and be ready for the next one.”
English national media react to Lewis Hall’s England performance
Hall was lauded by the national media on his return to the England line-up. While Gordon was largely cited as ‘man of the match’ in the game, Hall was highlighted as one of the top performers for England.
The BBC handed him a 7/10 rating, stating: “The left-back combined well with Anthony Gordon and offered a good outlet for England. Hall was a threat going forward and should have scored in the second half.”
The Press Association made a similar observation: “In for the injured Nico O’Reilly, the left-back impressed on his first start under Thomas Tuchel and linked up well with former Newcastle team-mate Anthony Gordon. 7.”
Unfortunately for Newcastle, it’s a combination they can no longer rely on down their left side. But the partnership was most certainly forged on Tyneside.
England face Croatia on Saturday before hosting Czechia next Tuesday to conclude their international break schedule.
Following the break, Hall and Newcastle’s international players will return to Tyneside in preparation for Premier League football resuming for them at Coventry City on Monday, October 12.
Matthias Jaissle’s side have lost just one of their first seven matches in all competitions, with Hall playing a key part in the side so far this season with two assists and a goal. His goal came last time out in the Premier League against Hull City and was his first at St James’ Park.