Kane on target again as England ease past Ukraine

LONDON: Harry Kane underlined his status as England's greatest international goalscorer and Bukayo Saka dazzled again in a comfortable 2-0 win over Ukraine to put Gareth Southgate's team in control of Euro 2024 qualifying Group C on Sunday (Mar 26).

Fresh from scoring his 54th goal in the 2-1 victory over Italy on Thursday, Kane made up for a couple of missed chances to break the stalemate in the 37th minute.

Arsenal youngster Saka, again England's brightest spark, then doubled the lead before halftime with a sensational curler that left the visitors and their 4,000 fans deflated.

Ukraine had their moments and enjoyed some pressure after the interval but never really looked capable of claiming only a second victory over England in 10 attempts.

The second half was tepid although it was noteworthy for an international debut for Brentford forward Ivan Toney who came on 10 minutes from the end as a substitute for Kane.

The 2022 World Cup quarter-finalists have six points from their opening two games and already look firm favourites to top a group that also contains Malta and North Macedonia.

Ukraine, who came agonisingly close to qualifying for the World Cup but lost a playoff to Wales, will be relieved to have got their toughest fixture out of the way.

There was plenty of sympathy for war-ravaged Ukraine around Wembley Stadium with 1,000 tickets donated to refugees and their sponsor families and the country's anthem warmly-applauded.

But all sentiment was put to one side once the whistle sounded with England focused only on building on their first victory in 62 years against Italy on Italian soil.

"To back up the Italy result was important but there is still room to grow," Southgate, who handed a first start to Leicester City