Gareth Southgate shuffled the pack and watched as his England side recovered from an early goal down to seal their place at next summer’s European Championships in Germany with a 3-1 win over Euro 2020 winners Italy. Harry Kane’s brace – sandwiched between Marcus Rashford’s mazy second-half finish – secured their passage early, as two Group C games still await next month.
Bellingham bursts through again as England qualify
- Bayern striker and England captain Harry Kane scores his 60, 61st goals for country during triumphant comeback result at Wembley after former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca scores his first Italy goal on 12th app
- Kane tells Channel 4: “We stayed steady [after conceding], knew we could do it. This is our home, we’ve made it a fortress in recent years, fans are loving it and we want to repay them with good performances. It’s a tough journey, but time to enjoy – nice to qualify with two games to go.”
- Real Madrid’s in-form midfielder Jude Bellingham given a standing ovation after another excellent display, winning the penalty for Kane’s first before playing decisive role as Rashford gave them the lead. Jude now has 16 goal contributions in 13 games for club and country this term
- After promising start, Italy unravel to hand new head coach Luciano Spalletti his first defeat in charge of Azzurri. Having lost the reverse fixture back in late March, the Euro 2020 champions still have work to do before qualifying after Ukraine’s 3-1 win over Malta elsewhere in Group C
It wasn’t all plain sailing for the hosts, and almost never is when watching England, but the sight of Kane and Phil Foden expressing themselves with such comfort – in their own half – as the clock ticked past 70 minutes said all you needed to know.
This is a group packed with individual quality and confidence in one another, so much so they were naturally itching to get more goals and push players forward, exciting what was a relatively subdued Wembley crowd for sustained periods.
Perhaps none were more striking than the sequence which led to Gianluca Scamacca’s first Italy goal, 25 months after making his international duty off the bench against Lithuania. Since then, West Ham spent £30m on him – quickly branded a flop – before Atalanta gladly acquired him for slightly less this summer.
It felt fitting it’d be here, back in London, he’d get off the mark for Luciano Spalletti’s side. Moments after Gianluigi Donnarumma dummied Kane, Italy had progressed up the pitch with worrying ease and were scanning for open pockets of space to exploit.
Stephan El Shaarawy’s low crossfield pass should’ve been cut out by Arsenal’s Declan Rice, but the ball evaded the midfielder’s grasp and soon enough, Scamacca was celebrating a tap-in that should never have reached him.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo crossed for Davide Frattesi, he missed his kick but the ball wasn’t cleared and the 24-year-old forward lashed beyond a helpless Jordan Pickford.
Scamacca a persistent threat as Italy pose questions
Scamacca had Pickford scrambling to his far post with a stinging effort from distance eight minutes later, but it flashed wide and the warning signs were clearly there.
Fortunately though, the nerves settled just after the half-hour mark and with a lengthy VAR review confirming referee Clement Turpin’s decision awarding a penalty.
Bellingham’s combination play with Kane set him free on the overlap as the Bayern striker held off Atalanta teenager Giorgio Scalvini before feeding through an incisive forward pass, causing panic as the midfielder advanced into the area. Di Lorenzo mistimed his sliding tackle to foul the 20-year-old, and there could be no complaints.
Kane sent Donnarumma the wrong way with an assertive finish to secure his 60th England goal and before the evening was over, he’d have goal #61 too.
Between Pickford and Manchester City’s John Stones, England scampered clear as Italy very nearly scored the exact same goal on 35 minutes – Domenico Berardi and Di Lorenzo linking up down the right, the latter’s low cross meant for Frattesi.
Stones lasted 63 minutes on his first competitive start this term after a hip injury, while club teammate Kalvin Phillips walked a tightrope and was subdued after being booked nine minutes in, hooked as Jordan Henderson replaced him on 70 minutes.
Pickford produced a diving save to deny a marauding Udogie in first-half stoppage-time, before Berardi blasted over from distance 10 minutes after the restart.
Rashford ends nine-game scoring drought in style
Excellent build-up play created by Bellingham a minute later saw Rashford break free and having missed two earlier efforts, seeing Kane demand the ball to his right was unavoidable as he wriggled into the area with three defenders in a tight space.
Go it alone he decided, and the Manchester United forward made no mistake a third time firing low and hard to the far corner with aplomb. Donnarumma didn’t move.
Bellingham’s brilliant tackle on Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella lit the touch paper for a rapid counter-attack, exchanging passes with Phil Foden before charging through midfield with runners either side as Italy couldn’t recover players quickly enough.
Pickford saved from Scamacca on the hour mark, Rashford blazed over the target a minute later while Foden later tried his luck but Donnarumma was equal to it.
Palace’s Marc Guehi, on for Stones as time wore on, made a series of quietly important defensive interventions with Italy still pressing to restore parity but it was his clipped pass forward that set the wheels in motion for Kane to kill the game off.
Alessandro Bastoni’s headed clearance invited pressure, rather than easing it, in an aerial challenge with the 30-year-old and he beat Scalvini in a foot race to the ball.
There was still work to do, holding off Bastoni after a clever first touch but he expertly sidefooted beyond Donnarumma in the area as England doubled their advantage.
That’s how it stayed, England through as expected into next summer’s Euros and they could celebrate a job well done at full-time. The key now is to maintain that big-game consistency once the stakes increase and pressure weighs heavier on their shoulders, as they are capable but defensive shortcomings remain a concern.
Picture source: Getty Images
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