77' |
Stones played it to Rice, Rice turned and found Demien centrally where two Malta midfielders were already closing from different angles, their legs heavy but their positioning still disciplined from forty minutes of second-half defending.
「TRAIT ACTIVE」 Press Resistant
His body adjusted before the first midfielder arrived — weight forward, arms protecting the space, and the first touch directed the ball away from both of them in one motion while his head came up immediately, and the pair collided slightly with each other rather than with him while he was already looking forward.
Kane had checked short to offer a pass and Demien rolled it to his feet, and Kane's one-touch return came back on the give-and-go angle before the Malta midfielder who'd overrun could reset, and the combination left Demien in space fifteen yards ahead of where he'd received the first ball with the Malta defensive block compressed and two of their defenders wrong-footed by the exchange.
