Staff Reporter.
England cruised to a comfortable 4-0 win over Andorra at Wembley on Sunday to extend their lead at the top of World Cup qualifying Group I.
Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford was given a debut but was unable to find the net in the usual one-sided contest against Andorra, although their damage limitation exercise was relatively successful until the last 20 minutes.
Jesse Lingard gave England the lead with a left-foot finish after 18 minutes but it then took then until the 72nd minute to double their advantage when Harry Kane, on as substitute for Bamford, scored his 40th goal for his country from the penalty spot after Christian Garcia fouled Mason Mount.
Andorra, inevitably, tired and Lingard got his second and England’s third with a low shot that the evaded the grasp of Andorra keeper Josep Gomes.
⏰ EARLY RESULTS ⏰
?? Bulgaria claim first Group C win
?? Broja’s late goal seals win for Albania
??????? England continue winning run
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— European Qualifiers (@EURO2020) September 5, 2021
And in a moment greeted with real joy around Wembley, Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, whose last Wembley experience was missing the decisive penalty in England’s Euro 2020 Final loss to Italy, celebrated his 20th birthday by scoring with a neat header five minutes from time.