England 4 - 0 Lithuania

England 4 - 0 Lithuania

England: Wayne Rooney 7, Danny Welbeck 45, Raheem Sterling 58, Harry Kane 73




Presumably, Harry Kane knows international football is not always this easy. England’s debutant was a man in a hurry. He had been on the pitch only 78 seconds when the ball was chipped up to his favourite position at the far post. His neck muscles were tensed, the ball thudded off his forehead and English football’s man-of-the-moment had another extraordinary story in an increasingly bulging file.

Perhaps we should have expected it given that Kane’s career has been on such a steep, upwards trajectory this season. Lithuania were obliging opponents for a player wanting to make an immediate impact and when Kane came off the bench to replace Wayne Rooney it was an accurate reflection of how the game was shaping that England’s keep-ball meant he and Ross Barkley, another substitute, were kept waiting by the side of the pitch for a full six minutes.

All the same, it was some way to announce his arrival on a night when Rooney moved within two goals of Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of 49 England goals, and only one short of Gary Lineker’s total, in second position, on the all-time list. For a while, it seemed as if Rooney might obliterate all those records in one night’s work. Instead, Kane quickly set about demonstrating adding another glorious twist to a season in which he has already scored 29 times for Tottenham Hotspur. His candidacy for player-of-the-year is looking stronger by the week.

England’s other goals came from Raheem Sterling and Daniel Welbeck, maintaining the team’s immaculate record at the halfway position of Group E, and their opponents were so moderate Roy Hodgson’s players could feasibly have added several more. Lithuania looked what they were: the 94th-placed team in Fifa’s world rankings, directly behind Malawi, Bolivia and Benin. They managed one shot all night and Rooney, without any exaggeration, could have eased himself alongside Charlton inside the opening 18 minutes bearing in mind the two chances that sandwiched his goal and came back off the woodwork. Lithuania’s coach, Igoris Pankratjevas, summed it up afterwards: “One team played, we just sweated.” But what did anyone really expect of a side whose substitutes included a player who has recently been on loan from Leicester City to Nuneaton Town?

England’s biggest opponent at times was their own complacency. Lithuania had one chance in the first half when it needed Phil Jones to get in front of, Deivydas Matulevicius, and one in the second half after Michael Carrick misplaced a pass to the same player and he whacked a shot over the crossbar. That apart, it was predictably one-sided and just a question of how many England would score from the moment, six minutes in, when Welbeck’s shot came back off the goalkeeper, Giedrius Arlauskis, and Rooney stooped to nod in the opening goal.

An air of inevitability descended from that point and England’s players did not need to exert themselves too much for their superiority to be obvious. Carrick slotted elegantly into midfield. Fabian Delph was bright and quick to the ball whereas Welbeck did everything he could to justify his starting position ahead of Kane. Welbeck can frequently look raw but he created enough problems to deserve that little bit of luck for England’s second goal just before half-time. Jordan Henderson had sent over the cross. Welbeck’s header was on target but it probably would have been a routine save for Arlauskis until it hit the nearest defender, Tadas Kijanskas, on his thigh, taking the ball on a new path just inside the right-hand post.

Lithuania’s only real intention in the second half was to try to keep the score down. Rooney’s clever chip teed up Delph only for Arlauskis to turn away the midfielder’s left-footed volley with the outstanding save of the night. England ought to have been awarded a penalty when Welbeck was clipped by Karolis Chvedukas but the lack of protests made it clear they knew it would probably not be long until the next goal. In the following attack, Rooney made his way to the right and whipped in a low ball across the six-yard area. Sterling had anticipated it before anyone else and darted in front of his markers to score from close range.

When Kane did come on, after 71 minutes, the game was ripe for more goals and the crowd were impatient to see him. What happened next makes it almost inconceivable he will not start Tuesday’s friendly against Italy in Turin, especially as Welbeck is likely to miss the trip with a jarred knee. Kane had touched the ball only a couple of times before Sterling jinked his way to a crossing position and clipped the ball to the back post. Kane had peeled away and was unmarked. “A sniper,” Pankratjevas would later call him.

The header was true and Arlauskis could not smother it on the line. Then Kane was off, running to the corner flag to soak up the euphoria.


By Daniel Taylor / Guardian