England didn’t beat a major nation competitively between 2001 and October 2018. But since then, they’ve done it four times under Gareth Southgate. Last night was different, though. This was the first time they’ve looked totally dominant while doing it.

England got to half-time with well over 50% of possession and had tallied seven shots and four on target, all within just 45 minutes. There were two things which allowed England to control the game.

The first, matching the approach at the World Cup, is they played a three-man midfield without a No10 to allow Harry Kane to drop in, and play as a false-9. It was bound to be a game won and lost in midfield, and England managed to create a relatively constant four-v-three overload.

The spacing was critical. England’s two No8s, Kalvin Phillips and Jude Bellingham, would stretch Italy’s midfield to open up holes for Kane and Rice and the head and base of the diamond, respectively. Sometimes, Bellingham would join Kane between the lines, while Phillips and Rice would stay in front of the Italian midfield trio. That way, England had outlets in different positions making the possession play less predictable, and Italy’s midfielders had to press while blocking the players behind them; no easy task.

Secondly, Italy’s defensive transition was not at all polished, and England took advantage of the gaps left in their shape. Upon losing the ball in the final third, Italy often found themselves badly staggered, with three vertical channels cutting through their entire team. Rice, so often the ball carrier starting the attacks from central, could maraud forward and find his teammates unmarked in the half-spaces as Italy scrambled to get back.

Off the ball, Southgate’s midfielders went man-to-man with Italy’s, since that was the best way to stop them from receiving the ball in space and controlling the game. England’s wingers stayed tight to Italy’s full-backs, and Bellingham joined Kane in the initial press. They’d take turns marking north-side of Jorginho while the other would press the near-side centre-back.

The danger with marking man-to-man, however, was that Phillips and Rice could often be dragged wide, and England’s whole midfield would separate. Here, Italy’s front-three could peel off England’s defence and receive the ball between the lines. What England did to compensate was have their defenders step out with them and track the runs.

Of course, this is a brave tactic, and it’s how Italy scored their only goal of the night. (Maguire stepped out and left a hole in the England defence. Nicolò Barella flicked the ball round the corner to a teammate, and Italy suddenly had a positional advantage.). However, for the most part, England’s man-to-man marking of Italy’s midfield meant the blues had no outlet, so they couldn’t benefit from Maguire and co stepping out of shape.

When England went down to ten men, instead of taking off a central player and making a 4-4-1 formation, Southgate took off a winger, which left England in a 5-3-1 shape. The reasoning behind this was to maintain a three-v-three battle in midfield. Had England gone to a 4-4-1, they’d no longer have been able to go man-to-man with Italy.

The introduction of Conor Gallagher was key to England’s win on the night. Gallagher, who’s quite possibly world class in how he presses out of possession, provided help to Kane, who couldn’t shuffle the width of the pitch alone. When Giovanni Di Lorenzo created a back-three for Italy, Gallagher would apply pressure to prevent a crossing opportunity from deep. It meant Italy spent a long time circulating the ball from right to left and back again without finding much of a way through as the clock ticked down.