Anybody can lose to Spain . But when England did so at Wembley on Saturday , it served to turn up the temperature for this trip to Czechia. England have form for finding it difficult at this compact stadium. Remember the European Championship qualifier here in 2019 when they lost 2-1 ?
It was not easy at first. Thomas Tuchel shuffled his pack, making the surprise decision to start Jude Bellingham among the substitutes. It was all a little angsty and Czechia, for whom this is the dawn of a new era under the Spaniard Santi Denia after their World Cup wipeout, dared to dream of another upset.
Related: Czechia 0-2 England: Nations League football – as it happened
Then everything changed. It was a rash challenge in the 23rd minute by Pavel Sulc on Elliot Anderson , late and high, albeit nothing overtly nasty. The referee, Umut Meler, showed the Czechia midfielder a yellow card and on we went. Yet the VAR was not happy and when Meler was called to the pitchside monitor, everybody knew what was coming next.
It was a red card to disfigure the contest but Tuchel was not complaining. His players made the most of the decision to get their Nations League campaign up and running with the standout moment being provided by Tuchel's headline selection.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was in from the cold at the outset for only his second appearance under Tuchel; the first was as a substitute against Andorra in the summer of last year. It was the Real Madrid player who helped to unlock the stalemate at the beginning of the second half, his whipped cross made to measure for Anthony Gordon .
Harry Kane added the second with his 87th England goal and, after all the focus on England's defensive vulnerability, there was the bonus for Tuchel of a first clean sheet in seven matches. The team had conceded 13 times in the previous six. It did not start particularly well. By the end, it was a stroll.
The inclusion of Alexander-Arnold at right-back was the wildcard. Any team with him in it feels more nuanced and it meant Tuchel retained only Marc Guéhi from the back four against Spain. Ezri Konsa and Nico O'Reilly had minor injuries. With Trevoh Chalobah in central defence and Lewis Hall at left-back, it was a completely untested unit.
England lacked cohesion at the outset. There were errors from them and it was easy to fret about their lack of care on the ball; the looseness of some of the passing. They were a little open at the back. Czechia were the better team until the sending-off.
England could highlight the moment on 16 minutes when Gordon took a fizzed pass from Myles Lewis-Skelly and crossed low for Morgan Rogers . The man who came in for Bellingham spun and sent a shot against the inside of the far post. But Czechia had flickers. Sulc almost got in after Anderson misjudged a high ball. Lukas Cerv hit a sweet volley past the post. Sulc choose the wrong option when well-placed and was crowded out by Guéhi and Chalobah.
The red card was devastating for Sulc, and not only because he did not have to jump into the tackle. It was in a non-threatening area of the pitch for Czechia. He overstretched in an effort to win the ball and it did not feel crazily excessive in terms of the force. There was no outrage from the England players around Anderson. At the monitor, though, Meler concluded that it ticked the boxes for an upgrade to red. As always, it looked worse on the slow-motion replays.
Czechia felt their attacking ambition evaporate. England came to dominate the ball. What could they do with it? Not much before the interval. Kane took another incisive pass from Lewis-Skelly and extended Matej Kovar in the 45th minute but that was about it.
Tuchel finished the first half in an almighty funk at the fourth official after a decision had gone against Bukayo Saka . The manager reset at the interval, sending on Eberechi Eze for Lewis-Skelly – who was booked on 35 minutes – and going to a 4-1-4-1. Lewis-Skelly had lunged in on Cerv, whose screams could be heard up in the press box. The Czechs wanted a red card to even things up. It was not that bad but Tuchel could not take any chances.
England got the breakthrough almost immediately and it was one for the Alexander-Arnold lovers. When Czechia coughed up the ball cheaply, he chased it down on the right, turned and did what he does. The pinged cross had a low trajectory and it bounced once before sitting up for Gordon, whose headed conversion was marked by precision. It was deserved reward for Gordon, who was quick and urgent; the player most likely to spark England.
England relaxed. They were good thereafter. Hall began to surge up the line. He shot inches wide after getting a pass back from Gordon while he watched Ladislav Krejci turn a low cross from him against the far post. The Kane goal was inevitable and it came when he drilled a loose ball into the far corner after a break into the box by Rogers.
Tuchel got Alex Scott on for his debut and he did well. Ditto Rio Ngumoha , who also came off the bench. England might have scored more with Kovar making a particularly fine save to deny Eze. Next up for them is Croatia away on Saturday.
