BELLINGHAM RESCUE ACT GIVES SOUTHGATE HOPE, BUT FRAILTIES REMAIN

THERE was a passion behind Gareth Southgate’s punch of the air that belied the fact this was a mere friendly — and a noise from the crowd that defied the reality that most of it was already halfway home.

- Malik Ouzia

With his 95th-minute equaliser here last night, Jude Bellingham delivered what will, in all likelihood, eventually go down one of his more modest rescue acts, snatching the 2-2 draw with Belgium that ensures England do not go into their pre-Euro 2024 hibernation on the back of successive defeats.

In truth, though, this was always going to be an international break in which results were secondary, and even at 2-1 down, Southgate had a fair number of positives on which to lean. There was Ivan Toney’s first England goal, Jarrod Bowen’s sparky display on the right, in which he was unlucky not to score his own, and, above all, the slick performance of 18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo in the centre of midfield.

Just as defeat would have done little to detract from those, however, nor can Bellingham’s late leveller mask the fact that for the second game in a row, Southgate saw his team’s defensive frailties worryingly exposed.

Perhaps that is a scaremongering assessment, given the backlines which obliged both Brazil and Belgium on the counter-attack will, all being well, bear little resemblance to that which starts the Euros against Serbia on June 16.