Harry Kane’s brace on his 100th international cap saw England beat Finland 2-0 in their UEFA Nations League B2 tie.
Kane fired England in front with a 57th minute strike from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s pass, to mark his 100th cap in style.
England’s top goalscorer added a second goal from Noni Madueke’s 76th minute pass, after the latter had played a passing move into the box with Alexander-Arnold.
Speaking post-match to ITV, Kane praised manager, Lee Carsley for the team’s dominant performance, especially in terms of energy and press.
“The manager has come in with a great energy, talks a lot of about freedom and attacking and hurting the teams. Of course there is a room for improvement, but a great start for him.”
The result meant that England stayed second in Nations League B2 after Greece beat Republic of Ireland by a 2-0 result in Dublin, through Fotis Ioannidis and Christos Tzolis’ goals.
Whilst Kane celebrated his 100th senior cap pre-match, England quickly enjoyed control of the match but struggled to make much impact from early corners against a resilient Finnish defence.
Kane nearly broke the deadlock after 20 minutes from Angel Gomes’ forward pass but his shot was blocked by Lukas Hradecky who made several early saves to keep Finland in the game.
Topi Keskinen meanwhile put two shots wide in Finland’s only notable chances of the opening half-hour, yet they got lucky in the 25th minute as Kane was offside when he nodded Bukayo Saka’s cross into the top-left corner.
England eventually couldn’t break the deadlock for all of their first-half dominance as Alexander-Arnold fired wide in the 43rd minute, having picked up Rico Lewis’ square-ball pass on the edge of the box.
Alexander-Arnold curled wide of the top-right corner from a free-kick on the edge of the box just moments later, as England finished the opening half in control.
The second half began like the first half finished but Carsley’s Three Lions continued to lack their end product, with Declan Rice the latest to see a shot blocked in the 54th minute.
Hradecky then blocked Anthony Gordon’s shot moments later as the hosts continued to be frustrated.
England’s luck eventually turned in the 57th minute as Kane met Alexander-Arnold’s long pass, before the captain then turned and calmly smashed in via the underside of the top netting to put the Three Lions ahead.
Rico Lewis and substitute, Madueke then saw shots put wide and saved respectively but it was the latter who proved key to the second goal, with a 76th minute one-two move with Alexander-Arnold into the box.
Madueke then calmly teed up Kane to smash in his second goal to seal victory for the hosts.
What’s Next?
England host Greece in their third group match on Thursday 10 October at Wembley Stadium, London, in a 7:45pm BST kick-off, before visiting Finland on Sunday 13 October in Helsinki at 5pm BST.
Finland meanwhile host Republic of Ireland on 10 October at 8:45pm CEST in the first of their home double-header in Helsinki.
Teams
England – Jordan Pickford, Trent Alexander-Arnold, John Stones (Guehi 80′), Ezri Konsa (Colwill 61′), Rico Lewis, Angel Gomes, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka (Madueke 66′), Anthony Gordon (Eze 66′), Jack Grealish, Harry Kane (Bowen 80′)
Substitutes: Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze, Conor Gallagher, Morgan Gibbs-White, Marc Guehi, Dean Henderson, Tino Livramento, Noni Madueke, Harry Maguire, Kobbie Mainoo, Nick Pope, Levi Colwill
Finland – Lukas Hradecky, Jere Uronen (Niskanen 46′), Robert Ivanov, Arttu Hoskonen, Adam Stahl, Topi Keskinen (Antman 74′), Glenn Kamara, Matti Peltola, Frederik Jensen (Lod 63′), Teemu Pukki (Kallman 46′), Rasmus Schuller
Substitutes: Oliver Antman, Tomas Galvez, Jesse Joronen, Benjamin Kallman, Robin Lod, Ilmari Niskanen, Urho Nissila, Joel Pohjanpalo, Viljami Sinisalo, Miro Tenho, Leo Vaisanen, Leo Walta
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