PRISTINA, Kosovo — Harry Kane scored again as England beat Kosovo 4-0 Sunday to easily win its European Championship qualifying group and head to next year’s tournament among the top seeded teams.
Harry Winks’ first-half goal put England in front but the visitors had to wait until the final 12 minutes to finish off Kosovo, with Kane, Marcus Rashford and Mason Mount adding late goals.
Kane made sure he scored in all eight qualifiers, tucking away a chance as Raheem Sterling picked out his captain.
England, which had already qualified for Euro 2020, won Group A with 21 points and 37 goals scored. It finished six points ahead of second-place Czech Republic. Kosovo ended third on 11 points and can still advance through the playoff process.
“I think it was a tight game. It was a good test for us really. Difficult pitch, in particular, lots of people slipping and a few passes went astray,” said England coach Gareth Southgate, whose side was already assured of top spot.
“We had to withstand spells of pressure, gave them a few half-chances that on another night could be more of a problem, but in the end our counter-attacking was absolutely ruthless.”
Sterling was recalled to the England starting lineup after being dropped for Thursday’s 7-0 win over Montenegro following an incident involving Joe Gomez at St. George’s Park.
Southgate felt the return of Manchester City forward Sterling at the Stadiumi Fadil Vokrri drew a line under last week’s incident.
“I think that you have to work through any difficulties you have and the whole group have done that really well,” Southgate said. “I think we come out of this stronger than we started it, frankly.”
source: sports.inquirer.net
