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[monks data]
England national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Mar 26, 2023 at 5pm UK
Wembley Stadium
Ukraine national football team

England
2 - 0
Ukraine

Kane (37'), Saka (40')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Bukayo Saka stars as England brush aside Ukraine

Bukayo Saka stars as England brush aside Ukraine
© Reuters
First-half goals from Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka propel England to a 2-0 Euro 2024 qualifying Group C win over Ukraine at Wembley.

England maintained their 100% start to Euro 2024 qualifying with a professional 2-0 win over Ukraine in Group C at Wembley.

In a contest largely devoid of attacking inspiration, two first-half goals in quick succession from Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka put Ruslan Rotan's men to the sword.

Patience was the name of the game for England in the opening exchanges, as the visitors effectively quelled the Three Lions' passive attacks and offered adequate protection to Anatolii Trubin in between the sticks.

Trubin's only meaningful action of the first half-hour was keeping out a tame Kane header in the 20th minute, but Ukraine's chief threat on the counter-attack Mykhaylo Mudryk was marshalled expertly by Kyle Walker.

However, one moment of quality from the Three Lions' chief threats broke the Ukrainian resistance in the 37th minute, as Kane picked out Saka with a stunning cross-field ball, and the Arsenal starlet found space for the cross.

By that point, Kane had taken up his customary position at the back post, and the England skipper got the right side of Oleksandr Karavaev to shin home the opening goal from close range.

Harry Kane celebrates scoring for England on March 26, 2023© Reuters

Going from provider to goalscorer in the blink of an eye, Saka wanted his own slice of the action before the first half drew to a close, and the 21-year-old doubled England's lead in sublime style just three minutes after Kane's strike.

Receiving the ball in the right half-space, Saka produced a neat turn to evade the attention of Mykola Matvienko, and he proceeded to curl a peach of a 20-yard strike into the top corner.

The blue touch paper had been well and truly lit, and Kane was inches away from making it three for England in the 42nd minute, with his powerful low drive stopping under the body of Trubin.

Given Italy's second-half fightback in Naples, Gareth Southgate would have been well aware of the dangers of a 2-0 scoreline at half time, but Ukraine posed very little threat as the game slowed down considerably.

With nothing noteworthy happening on the field, the major talking point of the second half was a long-awaited Three Lions debut for Ivan Toney, who replaced Kane for the final 10 minutes.

Fellow substitutes Conor Gallagher and Jack Grealish, along with Harry Maguire, all saw a couple of chances to bag England's third go begging, but England saw out the final exchanges with ease to cement their first-placed standing in Group C.

Southgate's side return to action away to Malta in June, while Ukraine travel to North Macedonia in their second qualifying battle in three months' time.

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How you voted: England vs Ukraine

England
84.3%
Draw
8.1%
Ukraine
7.6%
172
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Harry Kane celebrates scoring for England on March 23, 2023
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Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Germany Germany00000
2 Hungary Hungary00000
3 Scotland flag Scotland00000
4 Switzerland Switzerland00000

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Albania national flag Albania00000
2 Croatia Croatia00000
3 Italy Italy00000
4 Spain Spain00000

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Denmark Denmark00000
2 England flag England00000
3 Serbia Serbia00000
4 Slovenia Slovenia00000

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Austria Austria00000
2 France France00000
3 Netherlands Netherlands00000
4 Poland Poland00000

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Belgium Belgium00000
2 Romania Romania00000
3 Slovakia Slovakia00000
4 Ukraine Ukraine00000

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
1 Czech Republic Czech Republic00000
2 Georgia Georgia00000
3 Portugal Portugal00000
4 Turkey Turkey00000


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