Express. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express.
England captain Harry Kane SLAMS referee for ‘bottling’ Danny Welbeck goal vs Spain
HARRY KANE has blasted the referee in England’s 2-1 defeat to Spain in their opening Nations League match after disallowing a late Danny Welbeck equaliser.
Steve Nicol: Marcus Rashford was dangerous against Spain
England made a strong start when Luke Shaw found Marcus Rashford with a perfectly timed through ball with the Three Lions taking a 1-0 lead.
But that lasted only a matter of seconds when Saul found the net from inside the box.
Spain then took the lead midway through the first half when Rodrigo tapped in from a set-piece.
The remainder of the match saw England attempting to break down a rigid Spain defence to no avail.
In the big moments you need the referee to stay strong but unfortunately he has bottled it
That was until the seventh minute of stoppage time when Welbeck thought he had grabbed the equaliser when David de Gea fumbled a routine catch.
However, the referee deemed the Arsenal forward to have fouled De Gea leaving the England players aghast at the disallowed goal.
When asked whether Welbeck’s goal should have stood, Kane said: “100%.
“In the big moments you need the referee to stay strong but unfortunately he has bottled it.
“Big moments you need a firm referee who don't under the pressure get wrong decisions basically.
“Danny stood there, De Gea went up, he caught the ball but as he went down he fell on Danny, no foul or anything, and the ball has dropped.
“It was a good game, a good test against a team that keeps the ball well. It was difficult but we had good spells in the game and we probably created the better chances.
“We tried to press and play with high intensity.
“There's a lot of stuff we can learn from but I think we can hold our heads up high."
This was England’s Nations League debut, a new tournament format created to replace meaningless friendlies.
The Three Lions are in in the top tier (League A) and have been drawn to face Croatia as well as Spain.