“Don’t say it”, Twitter up in ecstasy as England hammers Iran mercilessly

After a lacklustre display in the tournament opener between Ecuador and England, the fans craved desperately for a match of sizeable proportions that would amp up the gentry of the quadrennial extravaganza that it is usually known for. In the second contest of the tournament, England dished out an impeccable masterclass against Iran to rout the Asia powerhouses convincingly in a battle that promised some beautiful football, high-octane drama and most importantly a plethora of additional minutes.

Within minutes of the kick-off, the Three Lions were already probing the Iran custodian as the attacks started pouring in from both planks with Bukayo Saka calling the shots on the right wing while Luke Shaw dominated the left. In an unfortunate incident, Iran lost their first team goalkeeper, Alireza Beiranvand as he slammed into his own teammate while clearing cross from Harry Kane.

Twitter amazed as England thumps Iran

As Iran was forced to substitute their goal-keeper, England started swarming over the Asian giants with bare minimum resistance. The Three Lions almost bagged that all-important lead through Harry Maguire with the Manchester United defender grazing the woodwork from close range. However, Iran couldn’t hold off England any further as Jude Bellingham managed to slam the ball back into the net from a delectable Shaw cross, drawing first blood for England.

Just when Iran were trying desperately to stay on their feet, England doubled their cushion through Bukayo Saka who hammered home a phenomenal volley to send the English supporters screaming in a frenzied bout of ecstasy. The Three Lions were not yet done tearing apart their counterparts as Raheem Sterling tripled their lead, latching onto a spectacular ball from Jude Bellingham, passing a verdict of authority against the technically undercooked Iran.

It took a while for England to find their fourth but it did come around the hour mark as Bukayo Saka netted his brace, this time from Raheem Sterling’s cross, as he exploited a howler from Hosseini and teed up the Arsenal midfielder.

Just when it felt that England was going to run away without a blotch on their records, Iran struck back through Tarimi as Harry Maguire gave a false chase and the former calmly slotted the ball home past an onrushing Pickford, intensifying the frown on the English faces.

However, it didn’t take much longer to dissuade the Iranian fans of their notion that there is still a comeback left as Manchester United striker, Marcus Rashford made it 5 for England with a neat run and an even better finish. With Iran already on the retreat, Jack Grealish was the final scorer for the three lions, comfortably tucking home from a glorious delivery of Marcus Rashford. The contest was still not over as Iran still had a bit of gas left and that eventually earned them a spot-kick in the dying embers of the contest. It was Taremi at it again and he bagged his brace, sending Jordan Pickford darting in the opposite direction.

Twitter was amazed at the sheer length of the contest and also the high number of goals that kept on flowing to keep the fans enthralled till the very last bit. The contest was so entertaining that even a barren spell of 10 minutes felt like a stroll through a desert.