Callum Wilson grabbed his second international goal for England against Malta last night after calmly slotting home from the penalty spot.
The Newcastle United forward has had to be very patient to grab his second England goal having last scored for his country in 2018, and he can thank VAR and probably even Kieran Trippier for finally finding his second goal.
Trippier was the one who picked up the ball and handed it to Wilson to take. Whether he was always meant to or not we don’t really know, but Marcus Rashford was on the pitch and he was the last player that isn’t Harry Kane to score a penalty for England.
Wilson felt like he could have scored more for England last night
Speaking after the game Wilson was humble as ever, telling the media (via BBC Sport): “It was about a minute later the referee blew the whistle and we weren’t sure what was going on, as we didn’t know if we had VAR. I was happy to step up and take it (the penalty) and put it away!
“It is always an honour to play for your country and then to score, it tops it all off really. It makes all of the hard work that you have put in to get yourself here, worthwhile.
“Probably the only downside is that I didn’t score more. I had a couple of chances but it was a great team performance.”
In the Channel 4 commentary box was former Newcastle and England man, Andros Townsend who was adamant that it wasn’t a penalty, but you know that when a ref is called over to the monitor, nine times out of 10 they’re going to give the spot kick.
Wilson went on to praise the ruthlessness of the team to get themselves into a comfortable position so that Gareth Southgate could give the subs a run out, saying: “We were very clinical and ruthless in the first half and it kind of put the game to bed, then it gives players like myself an opportunity to get on the pitch.
“We have not played as a team in a while and the Premier League ended about two and a half weeks ago. We blew away the cobwebs during the week, then put in a great performance against Malta.
“Any time you have away from the football field you are going to have a bit of rust, when you come back to it, but we managed to keep in shape and come back. The intensity of training is always high, the standard is really high.”
Wilson has the chance to cement his place in Southgate’s squad
With Ivan Toney banned from football for eight months, Callum Wilson has the perfect opportunity to make that Harry Kane back-up spot his own and, even though it came from a penalty, a goal will not hurt his case. The more he plays, the more comfortable he’ll become when the ball falls to him in the box.
Last night saw him snatch at a few chances or take an extra touch where, if he was playing for Newcastle he’d probably have scored. It’s just that rust he mentioned and probably a bit of nerves with him knowing he needs to make his mark.
England face Macedonia on Monday, so fingers crossed Wilson will get more time on the pitch and can add to his tally.
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