Euro 2020: England Extends Lead in Group A after thrashing Kosovo at St. Mary's - England 5 - 3 Kosovo

Sancho scores brace as Sterling and Kane register goals despite captain's penalty miss

Euro 2020: England Extends Lead in Group A after thrashing Kosovo at St. Mary's - England 5 - 3 Kosovo
Raheem Sterling celebrate first goal in England's game against Kosovo

England triumphed over Kosovo by 4-3 in their Group A fixture of the Euro 2020 qualifiers at the St. Mary’s Stadium on Tuesday night.

Muric denied Harry Kane on scoring the sixth and his second on the night through a spot kick after registering a goal from Sterling’s assist in the first half. Gareth Southgate made three changes to the England side that beat Bulgaria at Wembley on Saturday. Fullbacks Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ben Chilwell came in for Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose as Jadon Sancho replaced Marcus Rashford.

Head coach of Kosovo, Bernard Challandes also named goalkeeper Arijanet Muric, on loan at Nottingham Forest from Manchester City, and Huddersfield defender Florent Hadergjonaj.

The visitors opened the scores as early as the first minute through Berisha. Ross Barkley delivered a poor pass to put Keane under pressure just behind the backline. The Everton defender handed possession to Muriqi and Berisha was simply put into use. The number 14 for Kosovo made no mistake against Pickford and gave the visitors the lead.

The host begun play and contained Kosovo with much possession. Raheem Sterling quickly levelled the scores seven minutes later through a corner. Barkley ballooned the ball from the right corner flank towards Keane. He hopped high at the far post back into the six-yard box. Sterling from a close range directed the ball into the back of the net to make it eight goals in his last eight appearances for England with five coming in home games.

The three Lions intensified their pressing through Sterling’s pace on the right. He was a threat to the opposition anytime he mobed with the ball and exhibited his skills to take down opposition defenders. He drove through the heart of the Kosovo defense and beautifully laid a pass to Kane on his right in the box. The England captain shifted the ball unto his left foot and fired through Muric’s legs into the back of the net.

Vojvoda scored an own goal in the 38-minute to give England a 3-1 lead. Kosovo wanted a freekick after Alexander Arnold and Aliti collided in front of the dugouts. Maguire played the ball towards Sancho after the visitors expected the Manchester United defender to put the ball out of play. The Dortmund star created space and whipped a low cross into the box as Vojvoda unintentionally turned the ball into his own net.

A fourth goal by Sancho, which happened to be his first International goal quenched the visitor’s hope of resurrecting. They committed men forward, which left acres of space behind them. Sterling countered the ball, run into them and caught off the left flank before threading the ball through Sancho in the box. He drilled past Muric into the back of the net.

When everyone thought the first half of the game had ended, Sancho doubled and extended the lead to five in additional minute. Sterling once again orchestrated the attack and skipped Rrahmani with ease before squaring for Sancho. He beat the offside trap to tap into an empty net.

Kosovo pulled a goa back in the 49-minute through Berisha. Six minutes later, they were down by 5-3 after Maguire caught a Kosovo striker on the back of his calf as he tried to flick the ball behind. The referee awarded a penalty to Kosovo and Muriqi scored from the spot with power.

England was awarded a penalty in the 65-minute after Ross Barkley was teared down in the box under a challenge by Rrahmani. Harry Kane stepped up and his shot was saved by Muric to palm his penalty away from goal.

Both sides shared possession and were each denied glorious chances. England extended their lead at the top of Group A as Kosovo dropped down to third in the group after Czech Republic's 3-0 win in Montenegro.