Aston Villa winger Morgan Rogers was left stunned by what he saw from one England player in the country’s 2-1 win over Slovakia in the Euro 2024 round of 16.
England were again poor as they lacked cohesion and a cutting edge against a Slovakia side ranked 45th in the world.
Aston Villa duo Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins were forced to watch on from the bench as England struggled to impress and fell behind to a 25th-minute Ivan Schranz strike.
The bench is where the duo would stay until Konsa’s introduction at half-time of extra-time as Gareth Southgate refused to act despite his side’s dismal display.
England did manage to turn it around in dramatic fashion, though, with Morgan Rogers left stunned by that he saw from one Three Lions star.
Morgan Rogers reacts to late Jude Bellingham equaliser
With England edging towards an embarrassing early exit with a whimper, it was left to one of the country’s finest talents to produce a moment of magic.
When all seemed lost, a long throw into the box fell to Jude Bellingham who fired home with an incredible acrobatic overhead kick on 95 minutes to drag England to extra-time.
It was pure brilliance from the Real Madrid man and gave England an undeserved opportunity to play another half-an-hour to find a winner.
That is exactly what they did, with Harry Kane – the man starting ahead of Watkins – heading home the goal that ultimately saw England win 2-1 just one minute into extra-time.
However, it was Bellingham’s strike that drew praise from Rogers, who simply reacted ‘wow’ to Bellingham’s post of the moment he struck the equaliser on Instagram after the game.
Ezri Konsa set to start for England against Switzerland
Konsa made his first appearance of the Euros as he came on at left-back for the second-half of extra-time.
With Kieran Trippier a fitness concern ahead of the game there was a suggestion the Villa centre-back could start in that role but, as it was, Trippier was fit to start.
Konsa was impressive in his late cameo, showing his defensive solidity and composure in a difficult game to come into.
With Marc Guehi suspended after picking up an early yellow card against Slovakia, he will need replacing for the quarter-final against Switzerland on Saturday.
That should open the door for Konsa to get his first start of the tournament in what will be the biggest game of the 26-year-old’s career.
Southgate’s other centre-back options are Liverpool’s Joe Gomez and Brighton’s Lewis Dunk, but Konsa looks to be above both players in the pecking order and should start for the Three Lions as they look to improve against a strong Swiss side.
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