PLAYER REVIEWS: Star player Bukayo Saka produced three great finishes, Marcus Rashford enjoyed his home game and the number 10 shirt sits comfortably on the shoulders of Trent Alexander-Arnold
England took four wins from four in Group C of the Euro 2024 qualifiers by comfortably beating North Macedonia 7-0 at Old Trafford.
Captain Harry Kane got the first just before the half hour mark, before Bukayo Saka made it 2-0 nine minutes later. On the stroke of half-time, Marcus Rashford of Manchester United made it 3-0 at half-time.
Saka got two more after the break, securing his first hat-trick in an England shirt, while Kane got a second from the penalty spot and Kalvin Phillips also scored.
It was a very comfortable performance from England, who continued their dominant form in home qualifiers and took another step towards next year’s European Championships in Germany.
Here, Mail sports‘s Dominic King rate the players England 7-0 North Macedonia:
Bukayo Saka scored the first hat-trick of his career in England’s dominant victory on Monday
Harry Kane opened and closed the scoring in England’s 7-0 win over North Macedonia
England 4-3-3
Jordan Pickford6
Barely touched the ball. This was his 53rd England cap – few have been quieter.
Kyle Walker 7
Driven on like it was a training race. Nice fizzed pass cleared the way for Saka to open his account.
John Stones 6.5
In terms of defense, training at City would be more challenging. Won the penalty for England’s seventh.
Harry Maguire6
The first task was to keep a ball back in the fourth minute, which he did. Never tested again after that.
Luke Shaw looked like a left midfielder during England’s first-half dominance
Luke Shaw 7
So much on the forefoot in the first half that he looked like a left midfielder. Place Kane’s opening goal on a plate in front of him.
Declan Rice 7
Booked for a wrong timed challenge. It is not necessary to continue with him if the match is won.
Trent Alexander Arnold 7
The No. 10 shirt sits comfortably on his shoulders. Great vision and nice pass to create Saka’s second.
Trent Alexander-Arnold had a great vision to create Saka’s second goal with a nice pass
Jordan Henderson7
Full of energy and aggression to set the tone. Added shine to his performance with an assist for Rashford.
Bukayo Saka 9
The young man who always puts a smile on your face. Produced three super finishes.
Harry Kane8
Nasty head clashes early on did not stop him from scoring for England’s sixth straight game and making two assists.
Marcus Rashford8
Enjoyed being home. It felt inevitable that he would score for Stretford End.
It felt inevitable that Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford would score at Stretford End
Substitutes
Gallagher (Henderson, 58 mins)
Grealish (Rashford, 58)
Foden (Saka, 59)
Phillips (Rice, 59)
Wilson (Kane, 74)
Jack Grealish came off the bench for his first game since the Champions League celebrations
Manager: Gareth Southgate 7
Spent the week preaching to his squad about the importance of this game and the amount of focus he got from them was exemplary.
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (Romania) 6
Very little to cause him consternation. Let the game run and get every decision right, though Rice might argue his booking was tough.
North Macedonia (3-5-2)
Dimitrievsky 4; Ristovski 4 (Bejtulai 46min, 5), Zajkov 5 (Serafimov 57, 5), Velkovski 4; Ashkovsky 5, Elmas 5, Ademi 4 (Atanasov 58, 5), Bardhi 5 (David Babunski 67, 5), Alioski 4; Trajkovski 5 (Dorian Babunski 57, 5), Nestorovski 5.
Trainer: Blagoya Milevski
Attendance: 70,708