Gordon cements spot as England mainstay as Tuchel gets exactly what he needed

Two and a half years after his England debut, Anthony Gordon has made himself indispensable.

He is now one of the first names on the England team sheet and proved it again with a sensational performance in the Fortuna Arena. There is no doubt that Gordon has gone up a level since the World Cup and joining Barcelona in the summer because he looks a fully fledged superstar.

Gordon made his first senior start against Brazil in March 2024, flopped at the Euros but really seized his opportunity in the United States last summer.

And this felt more like the England we had come to expect under Thomas Tuchel because there was a much-needed clean sheet and of course the obligatory Harry Kane goal. Even when England's captain looks a bit below-par, he still scores. This made it 87 goals in 123 caps and Kane is on course to equal Peter Shilton’s caps record in this round of Nations League fixtures.

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After the disappointment of Spain, England were much better even if it took a while to break down ten-man Czech Republic’s stubborn resistance after their midfielder Pavel Sulc was sent off after just 25 minutes.

They did not exactly purr but when they needed a bit of extra quality it was Trent Alexander-Arnold who stepped forward on his first start for England in two years. Alexander-Arnold’s delicious cross set up Gordon for the 47th minute opener and once the resistance was broken then there was no way back and victory was England’s.

That puts England’s Nations League campaign back on track ahead of Croatia on Saturday and you could see their old flow and style coming back after a pretty ragged first half.

Let’s be honest, the Manchester City story was the only story in town and it is so naive to think that it has not been the talk of the England dressing room.

What next? Who is moving where? Will City be relegated? Honestly, it is quite something that the City contingent can get their heads round it all because the rest of us have been left in shock.

It looked like a few City players were struggling against Spain at Wembley on Saturday as Marc Guehi and Nico O’Reilly both made errors leading two goals.

This time it was Elliot Anderson who set a sloppy early tone for England’s defending again as he lost the ball and that allowed Sulc to scamper clear and it was only England keeper James Trafford who stopped the Czech midfielder with a brave block.

England should have gone ahead after 16 minutes - and will still be wondering how they did not score. Morgan Rogers’ shot hit the post, Harry Kane could not sort his feet out, Anderson’s follow-up was blocked and then Bukayo Saka wasted the biggest opening of all.

The game changed after 25 minutes. Sulc was initially booked for an awful challenge, raking down the back of Anderson’s Achilles. But referee Umut Meler upgraded it to a red card after checking the VAR screen.

Tuchel rolled the dice at half time by bringing on Eberechi Eze for Myles Lewis-Skelly - who had been booked - to give England more attacking drive from midfield.

England did not take long to take charge. Within two minutes of the restart, England were ahead. And it was courtesy of some Alexander-Arnold and the best player on the pitch.

Alexander-Arnold’s clever cross from the right was exquisite and it found Gordon running in to stoop low and place a perfect header into the far corner. That is six goals in 27 caps but they are flowing now. That was two in as many games.

Alex Scott came on for his debut. Then England got their second after 69 minutes. The ball broke loose and there was Kane to drive a low shot into the far corner to wrap up the win.