Harry Kane celebrated his a hundredth England cap with two objectives to fireplace England to a 2-0 win over Finland within the UEFA Nations League.
The Bayern Munich striker, who had a first-half header dominated out for offside, fired dwelling twice within the second half to steer Lee Carsley to a second consecutive win as England interim supervisor.
How the sport unfolded
England had been predictably dominant within the opening phases. Bukayo Saka was on the coronary heart of a goal-mouth scramble simply 4 minutes in, but it surely took 20 minutes for the Three Lions to handle their first shot on course. Kane discovered some area however noticed a fierce strike denied by Lukas Hradecky.
The Bayern Munich striker did have the ball behind the online moments later, connecting with a diving header, however the offside flag rapidly cancelled the festivities.
Whereas it was largely one-way site visitors, Topi Keskinen did have Jordan Pickford scrambling and maybe ought to have assisted an equaliser, opting to shoot regardless of the cries of an unmarked Teemu Pukki.
Saka blazed over from vary as England pushed to make one thing of their huge possession, earlier than Trent Alexander-Arnold had followers off their seats with a low drive that drifted agonisingly broad of the put up.
As half-time arrived, England discovered themselves sat on 77% possession however with simply two pictures on course, having failed to interrupt down a cussed Finland defence.
Kane’s low free kick stung Hradecky’s gloves early within the second half, and the Finland goalkeeper needed to be alert to disclaim each Anthony Gordon and Kane once more, however there can be no denying England’s newest centurion on the 57-minute mark.
After shifting away from his defender, Kane crashed a thunderous effort from the sting of the field which flashed over Hradecky and into the again of the online courtesy of a satisfying thump off the crossbar.
Kane added his second with quarter-hour to go, accumulating a cut-back from debutant Noni Madueke and curling completely into the again of the online to take away any doubt in regards to the consequence.
GK: Jordan Pickford – 6/10 – Fast off his line to assist sweep up however was largely a bystander on this one.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 9/10 – A artistic drive going forwards, taking part in some sensational passes to try to decide Finland aside. Unsurprisingly grabbed the help for Kane’s opener and began the transfer for the second.
CB: Ezri Konsa – 6/10 – Appeared a bit of uncomfortable on Finland’s uncommon forays ahead however that is seemingly as a result of he was left remoted by all his attacking teammates. Limped off on the hour mark.
CB: John Stones – 6/10 – Loads of ahead passes to try to get the ball again into Finland’s last third as rapidly as doable.
LB: Rico Lewis – 7/10 – One other stylish displaying from Lewis on his reverse facet. Spent most of his time inverting into midfield.
DM: Declan Rice – 6/10 – Maybe a bit of too centered on attacking, leaving his defenders uncovered earlier than the half-time whistle. Extra secure within the second half.
DM: Angel Gomes – 8/10 – Calm and composed in midfield. Introduced wonderful imaginative and prescient to maintain England ticking, but in addition made an actual impression along with his energetic urgent.
RM: Bukayo Saka – 7/10 – Full of life in assault and all the time prepared to go charging at his defender. Obtained in behind time and time once more however did not all the time discover the ultimate cross.
AM: Jack Grealish – 7/10 – Just a little gradual at instances however made up for it with some actually sensible passing. An amazing swap within the build-up for the second aim.
LM: Anthony Gordon – 7/10 – Extremely harmful within the opening phases. Noticed his affect fade barely however was all the time a menace down the left.
ST: Harry Kane – 8/10 – Unlucky to be caught offside for his first-half header however was to not be denied. Two wonderful objectives to mark his huge day.
Substitutes
SUB: Levi Colwill (61′ for Konsa) – 6/10
SUB: Noni Madueke (66′ for Saka) – 7/10
SUB: Ebere Eze (66′ for Gordon) – 6/10
SUB: Marc Guehi (80′ for Guehi) – N/A
SUB: Jarrod Bowen (80′ for Kane) – N/A
Subs not used: Dean Henderson (GK), Nick Pope (GK), Harry Maguire, Tino Livramento, Conor Gallagher, Kobbie Mainoo, Morgan Gibbs-White
Supervisor
Lee Carsley – 7/10 – England had been clearly the higher facet right here, which hardly got here as a shock. Carsley’s willingness to place religion in Gomes deserves credit score, as does his distinctive use of Alexander-Arnold.
