Bukayo Saka starred with an assist and goal for England in a 2-0 win over Ukraine in UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifying at Wembley Stadium.
Saka played the middle part of an one-two move which Harry Kane started and finished to put England ahead in the 37th minute.
The 21 year-old then delivered a stunning strike in the 40th minute to double England’s lead in an eventual 2-0 win, which keeps them top of Qualifying Group C for UEFA Euro 2024.
Italy meanwhile climbed to second in the group with a 2-0 away win in Malta, courtesy of first-half goals from Mateo Retegui and Matteo Pessina.
Without Luke Shaw and Reece James due to suspension and injury respectively, England’s pre-match plans took a further knock with Phil Foden needing appendix surgery just hours prior to kick-off, which left Gareth Southgate with 20 players available for selection.
Southgate consequently opted for three changes to his starting line-up from their win in Italy as Ben Chilwell replaced Shaw, whilst Kalvin Phillips and Jack Grealish were dropped for Jordan Henderson and James Maddison.
Those changes though didn’t impact England once the match commenced as they quickly got on the front foot possession wise, yet were harshly denied a penalty after Oleksandr Svatok fouled Harry Kane as the latter met Bukayo Saka’s flicked pass.
England though struggled to create clear-cut chances and were almost caught out in the 15th minute as Roman Yaremchuk pounced upon a direct through ball, yet was offside as he dragged his shot wide across goal.
James Maddison one minute later almost scored his first international goal in his second appearance for England, as Saka’s cross was fumbled by Ukraine goalkeeper, Anatoliy Trubin who collided with Maddison as the 26 year-old pounced upon the follow-up ball.
England though continued to struggle to create much end product to their dominance on the ball as Kane flicked a 30th minute shot over the bar despite being offside, before Maddison saw a 34th minute header saved by Trubin.
Ukraine’s resilient defence though eventually collapsed in the 37th minute as Kane floated a cross across to Saka on the right in an one-two move, which culminated with England’s all-time goalscorer calmly flicking in his 55th goal on his left foot from Saka’s return cross.
Saka however didn’t settle for just providing an assist as just three minutes later, he picked up Jordan Henderson’s pass and curled a stunning strike into the far-left corner from the edge of the box following a shift of the ball from his right to left foot.
Ukraine though refused to settle about keeping their deficit to two goals as they tried to push forward with no luck, as they failed to muster any shots on target in the first half.
Ukraine’s defence though continued to make crucial blocks early in the second half as England slowly began to lift off the gas pedal, but not before Saka had teed up Maddison in the 51st minute but the latter could only rifle wide of the near-top right corner.
Just after the hour mark, Ukraine’s interim manager, Ruslan Rotan opted to make a triple change and tweak in formation, which saw a stronger attacking spell amidst a lack of clear-cut chances as England dug deep defensively to frustrate their visitors who were yet to register a single shot.
Ukraine however eventually registered their first attempt of the game as Eduard Sobol broke up the left flank and attempted a cross into the box, which was blocked by John Stones with the resulting corner successfully cleared.
England though was able to comfortably dictate the tempo of this game to its conclusion whilst Ukraine continuously soaked up the Three Lions’ pressure, although they were lucky that Harry Maguire’s injury-time header flew over the bar.
Ivan Toney meanwhile made his England debut in the 81st minute as a substitute for Kane, which marked Toney’s first appearance after he was named as an unused substitute against Germany in September 2022 and against Italy in Naples last Thursday.
The result now means that England sit top of Qualifying Group C with six points heading into June’s qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia on 16 and 19 June.
What’s Next?
England are next in action on 16 June as they visit Malta in a 8:45pm CET (7:45pm UK Time) kick-off, whilst Ukraine at the same time head to North Macedonia in the next round of Group C qualifiers.
Teams
England: Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Ben Chilwell, Declan Rice, Jordan Henderson, Jude Bellingham (Gallagher 86′), Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane (Toney 81′), James Maddison (Grealish 85′)
Substitutes: Kieran Trippier, Aaron Ramsdale, Marc Guehi, Eric Dier, Jack Grealish, Kalvin Phillips, Conor Gallagher, Ivan Toney, Fraser Forster
Ukraine: Anatoliy Trubin, Oleksandr Karavaev (Buyalskyi 61′), Oleksandr Svatok, Mykola Matvienko, Vitaliy Mykolenko (Sobol 62′), Taras Stepanenko (Konoplyanka 90′), Oleksandr Zinchenko, Heorhiy Sudakov, Ruslan Malinovskyi, Mykhailo Mudryk (Tsygankov 61′), Roman Yaremchuk (Dovbyk 74′)
Substitutes: Andriy Lunin, Mykyta Shevchenko, Eduard Sobol, Eduard Sarapiy, Serhiy Sydorchuk, Yevhen Konoplyanka, Artem Dovbyk, Denys Miroshnychenko, Vitaliy Buyalskyi, Viktor Tsygankov, Artem Bondarenko, Oleksandr Pikhalonok
Referee: Serdar Gozubuyuk (Netherlands)
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