Referee bottled Welbeck decision, claims Kane

England captain Harry Kane accused match referee Danny Makkelie of buckling under pressure when he ruled out a Danny Welbeck goal for an infringement as England lost 2-1 to Spain in the Nations League.

Welbeck had the ball into the net deep into injury time as England attempted to get back on level terms at Wembley, where first-half goals from Saul Niguez and Rodrigo put Spain in front.

Marcus Rashford’s opener gave England a bright start but they struggled to match Spain until the last 20 minutes, when they probed for an equaliser.

When asked whether Welbeck’s goal should after he was penalised for a foul on Spain goalkeeper David de Gea, Kane told Sky Sports: “100 per cent.

Not the result we wanted, but it was great to be back in front of our fans. Thank you for support tonight – and throughout the #WorldCup.#threelions pic.twitter.com/hxUtOID8QX

— England (@England) September 8, 2018

“In the big moments you need the referee to stay strong but unfortunately he has bottled it.

“Big moments you need a firm referee who doesn’t, under the pressure, make wrong decisions.

“Danny stood there, De Gea went up, he caught the ball but as he went down he fell on Danny, no foul or anything, and the ball has dropped.”

Despite the disappointment of defeat in his side’s first outing since they finished fourth at the World Cup in Russia, Kane praised his team-mates’ efforts.

England lost full-back Luke Shaw early in the second half when he collided with Spain’s Dani Carvajal, but they rallied late in the second-half and almost equalised when Kane put Rashford through for a shot that De Gea blocked with his legs.

“It was a good game, a good test against a team that keeps the ball well,” said Kane.

“It was difficult but we had good spells in the game and we probably created the better chances.

“We tried to press and play with high intensity. There’s a lot of stuff we can learn from but I think we can hold our heads up high.”