Colombia vs England: 5 Talking Points as England Advance on Penalties, World Cup 2018

#4 Another penalty comes to England's rescue as they struggle in open play

Carlos Sanchez (L) brings down Harry Kane inside the box

With no goals coming from open play, England were gifted a chance to take the lead when Colombia conceded a penalty in the second half. Less than 10 minutes after the restart, Carlos Sanchez was responsible for conceding his second penalty at the World Cup.

The first group stage fixture had seen him sent off for a deliberate handball against Japan in only the third minute and he was duly sent off as 10-man Colombia fell to a 2-1 defeat. And tonight, his manhandling of Harry Kane saw England win a penalty.

It was just plain stupid of Sanchez who had even collided with the referee while trying to mark Kane. That collision saw the referee take his eyes off the ball and focus on Sanchez and Kane instead and the foul was as clear as day.

Kane stepped up and beat David Ospina (something he is familiar with in North London derbies in the Premier League) with a spot-kick that went straight down the middle to make it 1-0.

3 - Harry Kane is the first player to convert 3 penalties (excl. penalty shootouts) at a single World Cup tournament since Hristo Stoichkov for Bulgaria in 1994. Deadly. #COLENG #WorldCup2018 pic.twitter.com/PAaCVJAJqD

— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) July 3, 2018

But apart from the penalty, England never really threatened to score after that - especially once Colombia had equalised. For a long time, Kane's penalty in the 57th minute was England's last shot on target while Colombia were busy fashioning chances at the other end.

By the end of the game, England had just two shots on target.