VIDEO: Shot or cross?
Thursday, 01 March, 2012
Lansbury and Eastick share their views on opener in 4-0 win.
Jamie Bradbury in Middlesbrough
Click here to watch highlights of England's 4-0 win and decide for yourself if it was a shot, or cross
Watch the FATV interview with Henri Lansbury and Brian Eastick
Was it a shot or was it a cross? Henri Lansbury and Brian Eastick both caught up with FATV after England Under-21s 4-0 win over Belgium at the Riverside and had their say on the West Ham midfielder’s tenth-minute opener.
The goal gave the Three Lions a platform on which Steven Caulker’s header made it 2-0 before the break. Lansbury, again, early in the second-half and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s last-minute penalty complete the scoring and moved them seven points clear at the top of Group 8.
Lansbury was pleased with the response from the team after they lost in Belgium in their last game in November.
“I think the defeat over there got to some of the lads and we wanted to show them what we are made of and we did that tonight.”
Lansbury added: “You could say it was a cross-shot, but when it goes in it’s a goal, so I’m claiming it.”
Coach Eastick, standing in for Stuart Pearce who was with the Seniors at Wembley, continued: “It was a very pleasing result. At 2-0, certainly when we got to 3-0, we should have controlled the game a lot better than we did.
“The game was going end to end far too much for my liking in the last 20 minutes, so it could have ended up 5-2, but I would have preferred a 3-0 or 4-0.”
And on Lansbury’s goal he said: “I just spoke to John Barnes after and asked what he’d have done, he said he would have claimed it as a shot, but I’m not so sure. We were pleased to see it go into the back of the net.
“Stuart has built a real solid foundation with this Under-21s squad, he’s got a really experienced staff behind the scenes and the players have been first class in their preparation.
“You can’t complain at a 4-0 win obviously, but as we do as coaches we’ll pick the holes out and try to improve.”
England now must wait until September for their final two Group 8 fixtures, first away in Azerbaijan and then at home to Norway, who themselves need three wins from three games to overhaul England's lead at the top.
All ten group winners in qualifying, along with the four best runners-up, go into the two-legged play-offs to determine which seven nations join hosts Israel in the Finals in June 2013.
Watch the FATV interview with Henri Lansbury and Brian Eastick