Raheem Sterling leads England to easy victory over 10-man Ivory Coast

It was a night when Gareth Southgate shuffled his pack extensively and asked whether a number of players on the fringes of his England team could cope with the weight of the shirt. By full time, with Ivory Coast demoralised and dismantled, the manager had an emphatic answer.

From first to last, this was a procession, the visitors seemingly wanting to be elsewhere – ideally the playoffs for Africa’s five World Cup spots which were going on without them. The Elephants had said goodbye when they finished second to Cameroon at the group phase of qualification.

Their captain, Serge Aurier, gave England a helping hand when he was sent off in the 40th minute for a second yellow card, which appeared to be for dissent. It was such a strange moment, out of keeping with the tone of the friendly, and it sounded the death knell for it as a contest.

England had been much the better team before then, Ollie Watkins outlining his intention to be Harry Kane’s understudy with the opening goal and a polished all-around performance and Jude Bellingham reinforcing once again that he is a midfielder of the highest promise. And they were able to coast thereafter.

Raheem Sterling made it 2-0 before the interval, teed up beautifully by Jack Grealish – who enjoyed himself, all strutting confidence on the ball – and there was an inevitability about the second half being one of those where, broadly, the players went through the motions.

England have never lost to an African team. That was never going to change here. The result came hard on the heels of Saturday’s 2-1 Wembley win over Switzerland and Tyrone Mings would set the seal on it with a stoppage-time header from a corner from the substitute, Phil Foden.

Southgate was always going to make