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Trent Alexander-Arnold stood and surveyed. He saw the run from Marcus Rashford and the pass was a delight; cutting across the ball from right to left, it floated into the space. But what followed was something out of a cartoon drawn specifically to show what England struggling to beat Malta at home would look like. As Rashford’s run into the box was stopped and Malta cleared, Alexander-Arnold controlled and drove forward in one movement. But it was too much: Alexander-Arnold crashed into Rashford. Wembley groaned. Rashford limped off, injured. It was that kind of night. The paper aeroplanes quickly overtook England to take the lead: more had landed on the Wembley pitch than England had managed shots against the side ranked 171st in the world. Sailing down from high up in the stands, those folded pieces of A4 perhaps made for a more entertaining sight than Gareth Southgate’s side as they toiled and strugged and led only to Enrico Pepe’s eighth-minute own goal. That was obviously not enough to please the masses. It took until the 74th minute for England to finally click. Alexander-Arnold surging through a challenge in midfield to play in Kyle Walker, Phil Foden cleverly finding Bukayo Saka with a slided pass, Harry Kane dropping into position to tuck away England’s second and final goal of the night with what was only their second shot on target. Soon enough, Declan Rice curled in a pleasing third, only for VAR to disallow it due to Kane being stood in an offside position. Again, it was that kind of night. Still, job done, of sorts. England will be among the seeded teams in next month’s Euro 2024 draw. England, though, played as if there wasn’t a job to be done. It was a completely forgettable exercise, the sort of occasion where even Southgate will have struggled to learn much from. Except one thing, perhaps. In some respects, this was the night where Southgate handed Alexander-Arnold the keys to his midfield. So much for the supposed hesitancy to trust – this was Alexander-Arnold having the license to be what he wanted to be, to go everywhere if he wanted to. And for the most part, Alexander-Arnold really was everywhere, ghosting into several roles at once, like a hurried waiter attempting to cater to several overly demanding tables on a busy night. Ultimately for Rashford, Alexander-Arnold’s exuberance to burst forward resulted in an early substitution. Which, for Alexander-Arnold, was not a great look. Nor was the scoreline, or England’s overall performance, which should not, it has to be said, be attributed solely down to him. But this was also, in some ways, his night: his audition for a role in England’s midfield at Euro 2024. Alexander-Arnold, the 4, the 6, and the 8, wearing the 10, was given Wembley to do some free jazz. Asked what he wanted to be for England, Alexander-Arnold’s response was to be a bit of everything. There was the deep-lying Trent, the constructor, with his studs on the ball and his head aloft. The deep-lying Trent also showed a burst of speed, turning and accelerating to quicken England’s play, and was chopped down by Maltese opponents three times within the opening 10 minutes – once rather unceremoniously by Kemar Reid. Then there was the combining Trent, the one who roamed and drifted into the little pockets that popped up just inside Malta’s half, stopping and waiting, building the picture of what was around him. At first glance, most of his work here involved short return passes, but then came the acceleration again, the delightful flick around the corner to Foden, the lofted ball through to Kane, delivered with the quick snap of his instep. At which point Alexander-Arnold became something else: the driving Trent, the arriving Trent, reaching the edge of the box with a surge. There was a hint of the Gerrard to this Trent, a sense that he wanted to be on the receiving end of his own pass. There was the first-time shot from the angle of the penalty area, curled towards the top corner. Given England’s half, though, it curled harmlessly over the bar. But on a dull night, it was something to hold onto. On the other side of England’s midfield was Conor Gallagher. Brought off at half-time, barely having a touch, it illustrated how much came through Alexander-Arnold instead. Cole Palmer later came on and brought a flash with a couple of weaves and shimmies off the right. It belatedly offered a glimpse of some freshness on an evening where Southgate looked reluctant to experiment with anything new. But he did try something with Alexander-Arnold – the last to come off the pitch at the end, long after most at Wembley had already left. There were a few messages like that here. After all, there will be a space in England’s midfield this summer next to Rice and Jude Bellingham, who was desperately missed – even though he clearly should not have been. On a completely forgettable night there was perhaps one conclusion, and that is that Alexander-Arnold is closer to starting for England, and having more responsibility within that side, than we maybe realised. Read More England labour to win over Malta in front of bored Wembley crowd Gareth Southgate privileged as he closes in on 100 games in charge of England Gareth Southgate highlights Sir Bobby Charlton legacy ahead of Wembley tribute How Gareth Southgate can make England vs Malta exciting England vs Malta LIVE: Euro 2024 qualifier result and reaction Marc Guehi on what he brings for England: ‘I can be aggressive, I can be cute’

Mikel Arteta was the first victim and the first beneficiary of the new law changes after Arsenal won the Community Shield 4-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw against Manchester City. Gunners boss Arteta was booked in the first half by referee Stuart Attwell for protesting a decision, part of the new clampdown on the touchline behaviour of managers. But the fiery Spaniard was celebrating after the new law on timewasting and keeping the ball in play – meaning extended periods of stoppage time – allowed his side to equalise with 101 minutes on the clock. “It is really good to do that,” he said. “It was going too far and now teams are going to have to think twice. We have to prepare to play 100 minutes. It is going to happen every single week.” On his yellow card, Arteta added: “I cannot change my behaviour in three days and I can’t say tomorrow that we play with no offsides and what is the linesman doing? I try my best.” Pep Guardiola felt the amount of stoppage time was excessive even before the initial eight minutes stretched to 13 after a clash of heads between Kyle Walker and Thomas Partey. City’s treble-winning boss now also expects matches to regularly extend to 100 minutes and even longer. “We have to get used to it,” he said. “I had the feeling, not because we were winning 1-0, but that not much happened to extend it for eight minutes. “It’s a good question for the international board and people because they don’t consult with managers and players and we have to accept it with this amount of games. “Now the games will be 100 minutes. Nothing happened today and there was eight minutes. They extend for goals. If the score is 4-3, you put 45 seconds on for seven goals, tomorrow morning I am (still) here playing.” Young forward Cole Palmer, who was on as a substitute for the quiet Erling Haaland, appeared to have won it for City in normal time after a fine curling finish. But Leandro Trossard’s shot deflected in – off Manuel Akanji – to earn Arsenal a 1-1 draw and take the game to a penalty shoot-out. The Gunners scored all four of their spot-kicks, while Kevin De Bruyne fired against the crossbar and Rodri’s weak effort was saved by Aaron Ramsdale. Fabio Vieira stepped up to hit the final penalty with Arsenal winning the shootout 4-1 to land the first piece of silverware of the campaign and go some way to lifting a mental block after last season’s disappointment at losing the title to City. “It feels great. I don’t think it gets much better than winning a trophy at Wembley against the best team in the world, and especially the way we have done it,” added Arteta. “It’s great if the players are convinced they can beat every team. I think we showed a real determination and fight to win the game. “The reason why we are here to win trophies for this club and make it successful. I have seen so many happy and proud people.” City lost last year’s Community Shield to Liverpool and although they did not do too badly over the rest of the season, Guardiola was still irritated by the defeat. “(We’ve lost) three in a row,” he added. “We came here to win it. We were so close, but winning or losing, I know the position of the team. “We would love to win today but sometimes you have to accept that.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Arsenal ‘obviously paid way too much’ for Declan Rice, says Roy Keane England head coach Jess Thirlby ‘incredibly proud’ despite World Cup final loss Kyle Sinckler not taking England World Cup call as a given after Lions omission

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Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith are set to square off again this weekend, eight months after the latter secured a TKO win over his fellow Briton. Smith, 35, upset the betting odds by beating Eubank Jr, 33, in the fourth round in Manchester, and the pair return to the scene of that clash on Saturday, as they meet at the AO Arena once more. • Get all the latest boxing betting sites’ offers After a bitter build to the boxers’ middleweight bout in January, in which Smith dropped Eubank Jr twice, fans are expecting more fireworks this week. Here’s all you need to know. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. When is the fight? The fight is set to take place on Saturday 2 September at the AO Arena in Manchester. The main card is expected to begin at 7pm BST (11am PT, 1pm CT, 2pm ET), with ring walks for the main event due at around 10pm BST (2pm PT, 4pm CT, 5pm ET). How can I watch it? In the UK, the event will air live on Sky Sports Box Office, at a cost of £19.95. Viewers do not need a Sky subscription to purchase the pay-per-view. In the US, ESPN+ will stream the action live. If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch the event, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help: Get great deals on the best VPNs in the market. Odds Eubank Jr – 11/8 Smith – 4/6 Draw – 16/1 Via Betway. Full card (subject to change) Liam Smith vs Chris Eubank Jr (middleweight) Mark Heffron (C) vs Jack Cullen (British super-middleweight title) Adam Azim vs Aram Faniian (super-lightweight) Mikaela Mayer vs Silvia Bortot (women’s super-lightweight) Frankie Stringer vs Christian Lopez Flores (lightweight) Frazer Clarke vs David Allen (heavyweight) Florian Marku vs Dylan Moran (welterweight) Lauren Price vs TBA (women’s welterweight) Read More Liam Smith: ‘Chris Eubank Jr is a nightmare – not for me, for other people’ Oleksandr Usyk remains heavyweight champion but where does he go from here? Major controversy as Oleksandr Usyk beats Daniel Dubois after ‘low blow’ body shot

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