It was down to England’s consistency and the paucity of the opposition in World Cup qualifying Group K that there was zero jeopardy about this occasion. Thomas Tuchel’s team can only beat what is in front of them and they had done that with sufficient regularity to guarantee their place at the finals next summer with two matches to spare.
It made for the question. Could they do it on a soggy midweek night when most of the people outside their camp did not care? The answer was yes, even if it was not a performance or an occasion to quicken the pulse or live for any length of time in the memory. The serious business is to come.
Tuchel had demanded energy, a finessing of the connections between his players, a reinforcement of the identity he has wanted to see emerge out of the autumn programme. It did not really happen.
What the manager did get was another win and another clean sheet. Seven from seven qualifying ties. The final game is against Albania in Tirana on Sunday. And, also, two lovely goals.
Bukayo Saka got the first in the 28th minute with a volley that was marked by trademark technique. And Eberechi Eze, who came on as part of a quadruple substitution on 64 minutes that also included Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, scored the second.
