Kane closes in on Roo record in England rout
ENGLAND strolled to World Cup qualification as they thrashed lowly San Marino, with Harry Kane hitting four in the Group I finale.
Gareth Southgate said he would treat San Marino - the team ranked bottom of the FIFA rankings - with the same respect as any other opposition and he was true to his word as the Three Lions ran roughshod over a stunned home side.
Harry Maguire, an own goal from Filippo Fabbri, Emile Smith Rowe on his full debut, a first goal for Tyrone Mings, one off the bench for Tammy Abraham and a Bukayo Saka header wrapped up the win at a canter.
Not since beating the USA in 1964 had England reached double figures as they kept their foot on the accelerator until the very end.
Kane hit all four of his goals in the first half, drawing him level with Gary Lineker’s 48 England goals and moving onto 16 for the calendar year - a record in itself as the Three Lions cruised to Qatar.
He is now just five shy of Wayne Rooney’s all-time record.
United skipper Harry Maguire, opened the scoring with a fifthminute header as he too broke a record, becoming England’s highest-scoring centre-back with his seventh international goal.
The second was a fortunate own goal as Saka’s shot took two deflections, eventually flashing past the wrong-footed Elia Benedettini off defender Fabbri.
A Kane penalty saw him grab his first of four goals in a 15-minute spell, converting after a lengthy VAR check for handball against Dante Rossi.
His 14th of the year came shortly after, scuffing a Smith Rowe cross past Benedettini, before Aaron Ramsdale - making his debut in the England goal - was at least able to show his ability, having to get down low to push a Nicola Nanni shot behind.
A second successive first-half hat-trick was completed from the penalty spot after Kane’s header struck the arm of Alessandro D’Addario and he made no mistake from 12 yards.
His fourth was the pick of the bunch, the Tottenham striker beating two men inside the box and finishing into the corner to move level with Lineker and to within a goal of Sir Bobby Charlton’s 49 for England.
Southgate handed a debut to Conor Gallagher after the break, with Abraham and Ben Chilwell also coming off the bench.
Smith Rowe toasted his first England start with his maiden senior goal. The Arsenal man turned the ball home after a smart flick from Abraham.
If San Marino’s job was already tough enough, they were reduced to 10 men as Rossi was shown a second yellow card for tripping Gallagher.
Mings headed home the resulting free-kick for his first England goal and Jude Bellingham thought he had opened his account, too, only for his thunderous effort to be chalked off by VAR due to a foul in the build-up.
Abraham made it nine, finishing clinically from a Trent AlexanderArnold pass and double figures were up as Saka then got onto the end of a cross from the Liverpool man to nod in.
Said Southgate: “The qualification was earned away in Budapest, away in Warsaw, away in Albania and I’ve got to credit all of our players and staff on a really good year, the mentality, even in a game like tonight, we can’t do anything about the XI of the opposition but the way they played themselves was terrific.”
Meanwhile, Euro 2020 winners Italy will have to try and qualify through the play-offs after being held to a 0-0 draw by Northern Ireland, with Switzerland qualifying as group winners.