Trent Alexander-Arnold training for England. (Photo by Cameron Smith/Getty Images)
Trent Alexander-Arnold silenced his critics with a beautiful free-kick to put England 2-0 up against Finland on Sunday.
Jack Grealish had given the Three Lions a half-time lead, but Finland continued to pose a threat and could have easily found themselves level.
England needed to hang on to the three points following their shocking and embarrassing 2-1 defeat at home to Greece in midweek, which threw their hopes of promotion to League A into doubt.
And the result was put beyond doubt in the 74th minute as Alexander-Arnold delivered a vintage free-kick over the wall and beyond the stretching Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.
Trent Alexander-Arnold stop that! ?
An OUTRAGEOUS free kick from a special talent! #ITVFootball | #FINENG pic.twitter.com/MLF3fElEsH
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) October 13, 2024
Pundits react to ‘brilliant’ Trent Alexander-Arnold free-kick
It was a stunning free-kick from Alexander-Arnold, who has made a habit of providing elite moments of quality on the ball over the years, scoring six direct free-kick goals for Liverpool in the Premier League to date.
The Reds’ full-back certainly got pundits talking.
Former England defender Stuart Pearce said in talkSPORT commentary: “That is a super free-kick. The goalkeeper is nowhere near it!”
Meanwhile, ex-England and Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie told Sky Sports: “Finally, we have a second. It’s our left-back! It’s a brilliant free-kick. Since Watkins and Madueke have come on, England have stretched Finland. Trent does everything right.
“He whips it with pace and that’s what beats the goalkeeper. He got a fingertip on it but it’s a great finish. That’s the only positive from the second half for England.”
Former Arsenal and West Ham centre-back Matthew Upson was covering the game live for BBC Radio 5 Live and was equally impressed by Alexander-Arnold’s strike.
“Well, we said that it was tailor made but he still had to deliver and boy did he do that! What a strike from Trent Alexander-Arnold, and we know what he is capable of with that right foot but this is just beautiful,” the former England defender said.
“It’s inside the near post and bent over the wall but what I really like about it is that it has real pace on it.”
Top photo by Cameron Smith/Getty Images
