Harry Kane became England’s record goalscorer in a 2-1 Euro 2024 Qualifying away win over Italy, despite finishing with ten men after Luke Shaw’s red card.
Rice fired England ahead from a close-range 13th minute strike after he pounced upon a deflection from a corner.
Kane became England’s top goalscorer in the 44th minute with his 54th international goal from the penalty spot, after Giovanni Di Lorenzo handballed a corner-kick directed across toward him by Bukayo Saka.
Mateo Retegui netted a 56th minute consolatory goal for Italy who were unable to find an equalising goal, even after England were reduced to ten men in the 80th minute following a red card for Luke Shaw.
England sit top in Qualifying Group C ahead of North Macedonia who defeated Malta 2-1 in the other group match.
With Gareth Southgate having opted to stay on as manager after a tough FIFA World Cup exit in December, England soon had their backs to the wall defensively as Italy made a high-pressing start with quick passes in the opening minutes.
Southgate’s Three Lions also rode their luck in the third minute as Jude Bellingham conceded a free-kick on the right flank, from which Fransceco Acerbi smashed wide on the volley.
England though soon found a way into the match as a neat eighth-minute move down the middle found Saka, yet he could only rifle his shot straight into Gianluigi Donnarumma’s arms.
Bellingham one minute later drew a foul from Acerbi who then headed wide the consequential free-kick, before Donnarumma flapped the corner-kick away with his left hand.
Italy however struggled to get on top of Bellingham as he collected a 12th minute pass from Jack Grealish and broke forward, only for Donnarumma to make a crucial block to concede a corner kick.
Saka swung the corner kick deep across goal towards Harry Kane whose shot was deflected across into the path of Rice, from which the West Ham midfielder calmly smashed into the near-right corner to put England ahead with his third international goal for the Three Lions.
Italy meanwhile refused to relent in their dangerous energetic press as the game quickly opened up across the remainder of the first half, of which England saw the best chances to double their lead in which Kalvin Phillips rifled a 32nd minute shot wide of the bottom-left corner.
Rice meanwhile had made a crucial right-footed tackle on Nicolo Barella four minutes earlier to stop the midfielder breaking into the box.
Marco Verratti meanwhile saw a 39th minute shot blocked by John Stones and Mateo Retegui fired over on the rebound, as Saka made a well-timed tackle from behind on the Italian.
Italy’s attempts to stay in the game however hit a stumbling block as Giovanni Di Lorenzo two minutes later handballed Bukayo Saka’s corner cross towards Kane at the left post.
Referee, Srdan Jovanovic initially waved away Kane’s appeals until VAR intervened and forced the Serbian to award a penalty kick, following his pitchside monitor check of the incident.
Kane stepped up and calmly rifled the penalty into the bottom-right corner as Donnarumma dived the wrong way, which meant that the Tottenham striker scored his 54th international goal to become England’s all-time record goalscorer.
England could of wrapped up victory in the first minute of first-half injury time as Saka played through towards Kane in the box, who pulled back towards Grealish but the Manchester City winger could only drag his shot wide across goal.
Southgate’s Three Lions though quickly found themselves back on the back-foot after half-time as Italy once again enjoyed a high-pressing start, although the hosts saw three early corner-kicks denied during which Kane took a blow to his ribs clearing the second corner.
Retegui however soon proved a tricky customer for England’s defence as he teed up Lorenzo Pellegrini unmarked in the 51st minute, only for Pellegrini to fire wide.
Pellegrini though turned provider five minutes later during which Harry Maguire fouled Barella, but Jovanovic allowed play to continue, with Pellegrini playing through Retegui and the debutant calmly rifled beyond Pickford into the bottom-left corner to half Italy’s deficit.
Verratti and Pellegrini then saw shots go begging as the reigning European champions – who beat England in Euro 2020 Final – began to dominate, yet they struggled to produce many clear-cut chances amidst a stubborn English defence attempting to time waste.
Kyle Walker, Maguire and Luke Shaw consequently got served yellow cards as tensions rose between both teams, which culminated in a 80th minute red card for Shaw after he committed a second bookable offence with a foul on Retegui.
Southgate opted for a series of defensive changes in wake of Shaw’s dismissal as Kieran Trippier, Reece James and Conor Gallagher were all went on, which paid off as England clung on to clinch their first away win in Italy since a 3-2 victory in May 1961.
England’s triumph also marked their 50th win in 82 matches under Gareth Southgate in all competitions, since he first took charge in late September 2016.
What’s Next?
England will host Ukraine at Wembley Stadium, London, on Sunday 26 March at 5pm BST in the Three Lions’ second qualifying match, also live on Channel 4 in UK.
Italy meanwhile will visit Malta on that same date but with a later kick-off at 8:45pm CET (7:45pm UK Time).
Teams
Italy: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Rafael Toloi, Francesco Acerbi, Leonardo Spinazzola, Nicolo Barella (Cristante 62′), Jorginho (Tonali 69′), Marco Verratti (Scamacca 88′), Domenico Berardi (Politano 62′), Mateo Retegui, Lorenzo Pellegrini (Gnonto 69′)
Substitutes: Matteo Darmain, Wilfried Gnonto, Gianluca Scamacca, Matteo Pessina, Emerson Palmieri, Giorgio Scalvini, Bryan Cristante, Matteo Politano, Sandro Tonali, Wladimiro Falcone, Alex Meret, Alessio Romagnoli
England: Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips, Jude Bellingham (Gallagher 85′), Bukayo Saka (James 85′), Harry Kane, Jack Grealish (Foden 69′, Trippier 81′)
Substitutes: Kieran Trippier, Aaron Ramsdale, Jordan Henderson, Eric Dier, Ben Chilwell, Reece James, Marc Guehi, Conor Gallagher, Phil Foden, James Maddison, Fraser Forster, Ivan Toney
Referee: Srdan Jovanovic (Serbia)
Leave a Reply