In their European qualifier match for 2022, World Cup England took on Albania on Friday. Both the teams came to the field with the hopes of qualification in mind. While England was closer to it, Albania was not too far behind either. All 3 points were crucial for both the teams, and it would boil down to who wanted it the most.
Love it, @HarryMaguire93 🙌 pic.twitter.com/s2Rtax5RGn
— England (@England) November 12, 2021
England, from the start of the game, showed some great superiority. They had all the possession, their passes had a purpose, and ,they found early goals above everything. The first one came from a freekick outside the box in the 9th minute of the game. James stepped up to take a freekick awarded after a foul on Kane, and he delivered it to perfection. A curling ball found Harry Maguire at the far corner, and the Manchester United captain made no mistake in burying it past the Albanian goalkeeper.
#ThreeLions goal number 4️⃣2️⃣
👏 @HKane pic.twitter.com/JXTO8Y8E87
— England (@England) November 12, 2021
The second goal of the game didn’t take too long to come either. It was a great play by English players that threaded through the Albanian defense. In the end, it was an easy header for Harry Kane from a cross by Henderson to make it 2-0 in the 18th minute. From there onwards, it was a stampede by England over their inferior-looking opponent. The Home team kept up the pressure with players finding passes on will and making superb runs giving headaches to their opponents. As a result, in the 28th minute of the game, Henderson and Kane showed some great linkup pay to score the game’s third goal. Five minutes later, Kane made a great run yet again, and this time Sterling found him with a through ball; everyone knew what would be the result. The striker beat the keeper for the 4th goal of the match in the 33rd minute to make it 4-0. The goal of the game, or perhaps this international break, came in the 45+ minute when a perfect corner from Foden found Kane in the box. The finishing touch Kane provided on the ball to score his hat-trick was just sublime.
A sensational hat-trick from @HKane 🔥pic.twitter.com/KhE0dR8DpL
— England (@England) November 12, 2021
After Kane and Foden’s withdrawal, the second half of the game was rather bland than the first half. Also, Albania’s defense was reorganized not to allow the strikers any opportunity to get their shot away. As a result, the game ended at 5-0. With this victory, England got the much-needed 3 points and is back at Group I’s number one spot.