Kane treble helps Three Lions qualify in style on landmark night
ENGLAND: Pickford, Alexander-Arnold, Maguire, Stones, Chilwell, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Maddison, 56 mins), Winks, Mount (Gomez, 70 mins), Rashford, Kane (Abraham, 57 mins), Sancho. Unused subs: Rice, Hudson-Odoi, Mings, Dean Henderson, Tomori, Wilson, Rose, Trippier, Pope. MONTENEGRO: Mijatovic, Vesovic, Sofranac, Simic, Radunovic (Raspopovic, 46 mins), Hocko, Lagator, Vukcevic, Jovovic (Jankovic, 65 mins), Haksabanovic (Boljevic, 74 mins), Beciraj. Unused subs: Sarkic, Sekulic, Vujacic, Bulatovic, Kojasevic , Kopitovic, Mugosa, Petkovic.
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (Spain) Man of the match: Harry Kane
Match rating: 8/10
RAHEEM Sterling watched from the stands as England smashed Montenegro to seal their place at Euro 2020.
On a landmark night at Wembley, when England were playing their 1000th game in international football, captain Harry Kane led the rout with a 19-minute hat-trick.
In front of stars past and present, including the axed Sterling, it was a glimpse of an exciting future for boss Gareth Southgate.
He named the youngest starting XI in 60 years, but his players came of age.
A week that started with headlines over Sterling, dropped from the team after an altercation with Joe Gomez in the build-up, ended with Kane stealing the limelight.
He is up to sixth on England’s all-time list of record goalscorers, with 31 goals now from 44 games.
It all started with a goal from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, with Kane’s treble either side of Marcus Rashford’s strike.
A comical own-goal from Aleksandar Sofranac made it 6-0 in the second half before sub Tammy Abraham sealed the rout.
The result ensures England top Group A, sealing their place at the Euros next summer in style.
This was always going to be a night of celebration, as the FA marked 1,000 games, but the crowd of 77,277 were treated to something special.
Search back through the previous 999 England fixtures and you would have struggled to find anything to match the first-half here.
They tore Montenegro apart, racing into a 5-0 lead inside 40 minutes.
Aside from Kane’s treble, there were three assists for Ben Chilwell.
Montenegro’s defence, so horribly exposed at set-pieces, struggled with the trickery of Jadon Sancho, who took Sterling’s place in the three-man attack, and were cut open time and again by the driving runs of Oxlade-Chamberlain.
It was the latter, on his first international start in 18 months, who got England going with a goal in the 11th minute.
He collected a pass from Chilwell on the inside right channel and, after a superb touch to control, drilled a well-placed shot into the far corner.
With an average age of 23 years and 255 days, this was England’s youngest line-up since 1959, but it all clicked so impressively.
Kane was denied at close range while Rashford had a powerful effort turned over by goalkeeper Milan Mijatovic.
The second came in the 18th minute after England won a freekick near the left corner of the box. Chilwell curled in the ball and Kane stooped to head in.
The same two combined for England’s third in the 24th minute.
Again Kane was left unmarked, no-one picking him up as he came rushing in to meet Chilwell’s corner and scoring with another simple header.
Jordan Pickford produced a fine one-handed save to stop Marko Simic pulling a goal back, but it was a mere footnote in a half of utter England dominance.
Rashford added goal number four in the 30th minute.
A corner was played short and Oxlade-Chamberlain crossed to Harry Maguire, whose header was well saved. The ball came to Rashford, who took it on to his right foot before steering his effort past the helpless Montenegro goalkeeper.
England were relentless, so was Kane.
He completed his hat-trick, scoring the fifth in the 36th minute.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross took a slight deflection and Kane showed good footwork to kill the ball, swivel smartly and slot in.
The faces of the Montenegro defenders matched the colour of their red shirts.
The home crowd were loving it though.
In the stands, Wayne Rooney, Paul Gascoigne and Geoff Hurst were sat together, applauding as each goal hit the net.
Montenegro switched to a back five for the second-half and their defence was a little more organised, though England had eased off.
Kane was subbed, departing to high-fives from team-mates on the subs bench, yet the misery was far from complete for the hapless Montenegrans and an own-goal made it 6-0.
It followed more chaotic defending, as Rashford’s cross was spilled by the goalkeeper on to Sancho.
The ball fell for Mason Mount, who scuffed his shot, but Sofranac inadvertently hooked the ball into his own net.
Abraham completed the rout with number seven in the 84th minute.
Again Chilwell was involved, finding Sancho who supplied the cross for the Chelsea striker to convert.
NORTHERN Ireland Under-21s were held 1-1 by Hungary in a friendly at Ferney Park last night.
Ian Baraclough’s side are gearing up for their final Euro 2021 qualifier of 2019 when they take on Romania at the Ballymena Showgrounds on Tuesday evening.
And they had to come from behind to avoid defeat at the home of Ballinamallard United.
Adrian Szoke’s first-half goal turned the heat up on the hosts but Leeds United youngster Alfie McCalmont grabbed the equaliser after the break.
The 19-year-old, who made his senior Northern Ireland debut against Luxembourg in September, showed his ruthless touch to make it 1-1.
Northern Ireland have had a testing start to their qualifying campaign, playing away in three of their opening four games, gaining two points in draws against Malta and Finland.
And the Under-19s will be aiming to bounce back from Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat to Norway when they return to action in the Uefa U19 Championship preparation tournament tonight.
Portugal, who lost 2-1 to Germany in Ballymena, are up next for Stephen Frail’s boys at Mourneview Park (7.30pm).
Meanwhile, Zachary Elbouzedi scored the only goal of the game against Armenia as Republic of Ireland Under-21s held on to victory with 10 men to stay top of their Euro 2021 qualifying group.
The Waterford midfielder hit the target in the 63rd minute of his side’s trip to Yerevan, enough to deliver a 1-0 win that left the Republic on 13 points after six games.
Things were made more difficult for the last 14 minutes after West Brom defender Dara O’Shea was sent off for a wayward challenge, but the hosts could not find a way past 17-year-old debutant goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu — one of several fresh faces in a side that was hit by a host of withdrawals and suspensions.