England captain Harry Kane scored a hat-trick as they cruised to victory against Bulgaria at Wembley to maintain their 100% record in Euro 2020 qualifying.
Gareth Southgate’s side made it three wins from three with 14 goals scored, barely needing to break sweat as they comfortably cleared another obstacle in their path to next summer’s showpiece.
Kane and Raheem Sterling were deadly once more as England built momentum from a low-key first 45 minutes to brush Bulgaria aside.
The pair combined to give England a 24th-minute lead when Sterling pounced on an error by Bulgaria goalkeeper Plamen Iliev at a goal-kick to set up Kane for a smart finish on the turn.
Kane scored England’s second from the spot four minutes after the break, the penalty awarded for Nikolay Bodurov’s foul on Marcus Rashford, then he crossed for Sterling to bundle home the third in the 55th minute.
Tottenham’s Kane completed his treble with another spot-kick after he was hauled down by Kristian Dimitrov to take his outstanding international record to 25 goals from 40 appearances, with this his second hat-trick after achieving the same feat against Panama in the 2018 World Cup.
Southgate, with victory assured, was able to give a senior debut to Chelsea’s Mason Mount as England had the perfect preparation for the next qualifier against Kosovo in Southampton on Tuesday.
source: BBC
