Int'l round-up: Kane nets on England debut

Sport360 staff 06:44 28/03/2015
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  • Flying high: Harry Kane scores at Wembley in his first senior England appearance.

    Harry Kane took just 78 seconds to make his mark on international football as he enjoyed a fairytale debut in England’s comfortable 4-0 win over Lithuania at Wembley.

    Kane entered the pitch in the 71st minute and he nodded the ball in less than two minutes later to round off a simple victory in the Euro 2016 qualifier.

    Wayne Rooney moved to within two goals of Sir Bobby Charlton’s England scoring record with an early opener. He would have moved level with the England great inside 19 minutes had he not rattled the woodwork on two occasions.

    But once Rooney made way for Kane, the script was written for the Tottenham striker to score on his debut and he did not disappoint.

    Man of the match Danny Welbeck and Raheem Sterling had earnlier given England a comfortable cushion against dire opposition.

    Alvaro Morata marked his first competitive start for Spain with the only goal in a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Ukraine in Seville.

    Juventus striker Morata seized his opportunity, which came after Diego Costa’s withdrawal through injury, by netting his first international goal just before the half hour mark.

    The 2010 World champions dominated the first period and earned their rewards through Morata’s strike. However, La Roja were unable to maintain their intensity in the second half with goalkeeper Iker Casillas called into action on more than one occasion.

    The qualifier between Montenegro and Russia in Podgorica last night was stopped for half an hour after visiting goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev was struck by a flare, before later being abandoned after a brawl between opposing players and staff.

    Akinfeev, 28, was hit on the right shoulder by a flare thrown from behind the goal at the Gradski Stadion just moments after the start of the Euro 2016 qualifying Group G fixture.

    The CSKA Moscow goalkeeper was stretchered off and taken to hospital as a precaution, while the German referee ordered the players off the pitch and called a halt to the match before later resuming the contest. Once a fight broke out in the second half, however, an end was called to the contest.

    Switzerland remain outside the automatic qualifying spots at the halfway point of Group E despite a comfortable 3-0 victory over Estonia.

    First-half goals from Fabian Schar (above) and Granit Xhaka and Haris Seferovic’s 80th-minute strike, all coming from Xherdan Shaqiri assists, helped the Swiss claim their third successive victory of the campaign. 

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