Harry Kane came off the bench to score his 40th international goal as England put four past Andorra at Wembley.
It was always going to be comfortable against the team ranked 156th in the world, and as such Gareth Southgate made eleven changes to the team that beat Hungary last Thursday, giving Leeds striker Patrick Bamford his debut and opting to play Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield.
Jesse Lingard opened the scoring in the 18th minute, the Manchester United midfielder rolling home from inside the penalty box after collecting a weak clearance from an Andorran defender.
It was the 28-year-old’s first international goal since scoring in a Nations League win against Croatia in November 2018.
He thought he’d scored a second not long after, lobbing Andorran goalkeeper Josep Gomes after collecting a Bamford pass, but his effort was correctly ruled out for offside.
Reece James rattled the woodwork with a thunderous strike at the start of the second-half, but it took until the 72nd minute for England to score their second, Harry Kane converting from the penalty spot after fellow substitute Mason Mount had been brought down in the box.
Kane’s goal meant he became the sixth player to reach 40 goals for England, behind Wayne Rooney, Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker, Jimmy Greaves, and Michael Owen. He is now only 13 goals behind Rooney’s all-time record.
Lingard did then get on the scoresheet again, Gomes unable to keep out his effort from the edge of the box despite getting a hand to it.
On his 20th birthday, Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka rounded off the victory, heading home from a Lingard cross.
This being the first game at Wembley since Saka missed the decisive penalty in the Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy, the 20-year-old was warmly applauded by the Wembley crowd and was quickly surrounded by his teammates following his goal.
The result moves England to five wins from five as they continue their comfortable progress towards next year’s winter World Cup.
Next up is a trip to Poland on Wednesday, the toughest test for the Three Lions in Group I.
Featured image by Антон Зайцев – https://www.soccer.ru/galery/1055080/photo/732864, CC BY-SA 3.0; no changes made.
