Fast Eddie closing in on Shearer goal record
THE captain’s armband and a perfect hat-trick: Eddie Nketiah’s rise continues, with Alan Shearer’s goalscoring record firmly in his sights. England Under 21s moved closer to next year’s Euros with a fifth straight qualifying victory, and their skipper for the night is now just two short of Shearer’s 13 at this level. ‘Look at the company he’s keeping there, the calibre,’ manager Aidy Boothroyd said. ‘He played a real captain’s game. They were rather heavy-handed with him but he just gets up and gets on with it.’
Nketiah’s attention to his link-up play with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is paying dividends yet he was just as ruthless inside the box. Three goals in 10 minutes took the game away from Kosovo, with Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher’s contribution and a goal on debut for Jude Bellingham the other highlights in Pristina. Nketiah opened the scoring six minutes into the second half. Tom Davies broke from midfield to stand a cross up for the striker, waiting at the back post to nod home. That was a poacher’s effort and so was the second, four minutes later, Nketiah spinning to clip past Florian Smakiqi. The hat-trick came after the hour, Nketiah stroking home a penalty, yet England were not done. Reiss Nelson notched the fourth, then Bellingham came into his own, starting a move for Ryan Sessegnon to score, then caressing the ball into the far corner himself.