England put on a ruthless display against Montenegro to thrash them 7-0 in UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers at the Wembley on Thursday to seal a spot in next year’s continental tournament.
The occasion, which also marked the Three Lions’ 1000th match, was hit by some pre-match controversies when news of physical scuffle between Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez broke out.
The incident led manager Gareth Southgate to suspend the Manchester City midfielder for a match on disciplinary ground.
However, England did not let that affect their on-field performance and captain Harry Kane himself led from the from and scored a match-winning hat-trick.
🏴 Harry Kane = First half hat-trick hero! ⚽️⚽️⚽️#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/gNDeIEv0fI
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@UEFAEURO) November 14, 2019
Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain opened the scoring of the night when he netted in the 11th minute off a Ben Chilwell’s cross to score his fifth goal in last six games for both club and country.
Kane then saw the back of the net in quick successions when he netted back-to-back in the 18th and 24 minutes. Both the goals were scored off Chilwell’s set-pieces as the Leicester City midfielder completed his hat-trick of assists.
In-form Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford scored the fourth for his team in 30th minute after sending the ball into the nets from a Trent Alexander-Arnold delivery before his skipper completed his hat-trick in the 34th minute from another Alexander-Arnold cross.
🏴 Oxlade-Chamberlain has 5 goals in his last 6 appearances for club & country
🏴 Rashford has 6 goals in 6 games for club & country#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/6XB55BgvEh— UEFA EURO 2020 (@UEFAEURO) November 14, 2019
With the treble, the Tottenham Hotspur striker now has 31 international goals under his name. He moved ahead of Tom Finney, Alan Shearer and Nat Lofthouse’s mark of 30.
Montenegro’s frustration went a level up when centre-back Aleksander Sofranac put the ball in his own net and helped England take 6-0 lead 20 minutes into the second half.
The final nail in the visitors’ coffin was put by young Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham in the 84th minute through a cross from Jadon Sancho after replacing Kane.