HAPPY HARRY
No goals in August but Kane scores two on September 1
HArry Kane broke his goal drought with a double that made England’s win in Malta look respectable.
But Gareth Southgate still had to defend his players after their own fans turned on them for an uninspired display.
The England manager insisted his side had been ‘brave’ to ignore the barracking, adding: ‘The atmosphere in the stadium — you’ve got to show some real courage
to stick to the game plan.’ England were also booed off at the break and many of their supporters left the stadium well before full time, with the away end largely empty for the closing stages of the game. Southgate added: ‘We have to accept, I’ve played in nights like this and if you don’t get a couple of early goals, the atmosphere can turn. But that’s part of wearing the shirt. You have to deal with that. If Germany had played here, we’d look at the score and see 4-0 and think they’ve done a professional job. ‘That’s what we’ve done in the end. It took a while to get the goals, but we dominated the game. Over 70 per cent of the possession. There’s very little space to play against their 5-4-1 and we managed to do that. I understand the reaction, but we have to stay focused as a group. ‘Monday’s game will be completely different. From our point of view, we have to focus on sticking to the plan, staying calm. ‘I understand that if we don’t score until late, the game feels different for everybody. But I’ve played in so many qualifiers and watched many qualifiers and I don’t remember many being free-flowing, champagne football. When there’s no space, you have to work the opportunities. I’m really pleased with what the players have done. They’ve kept their focus, kept calm, not taken shots from outside the box which I’ve seen us do and it relieves the pressure. If you keep going, you get the rewards.’ Kane added: ‘Whenever you come away to games like this it’s never going to be easy but we knew we had to keep moving it and that the spaces would open and the chances would come. ‘All 10 or 11 players are behind the ball and you have to make sure that your passes are spot on.’