England defeated Kosovo 5-3 in the 2020 European Cup qualifying match which was held at St.Mary’s Stadium on Tuesday (10/9).
Kosovo has surprised England when the game has been running for one minute. A mistake made by Michael Keane made the ball fall at the foot of Vedat Muriqi.
Muriqi then passes the ball to the free standing Valon Berisha. Berisha without difficulty means conquering Jordan Pickford to make the score 1-0 for the visitors.
The quick goal turned out to make England flinched. The Three Lions then immediately appeared violent in the first round and was able to score five replies.
The equalizing goal came in the eighth minute through Raheem Sterling. Sterling was able to score a header after receiving a header from Keane.
After scoring goals, Sterling then contributed three assists for Harry Kane’s goal and a pair of Jadon Sancho goals.
Kane put England 2-1 up in the 19th minute after his left-footed shot from close range was dammed by Kosovo goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.
England’s third goal came in the 38th minute after a horizontal cross from Jadon Sancho was wrongly anticipated by Mergim Vojvoda who sent the ball into his own net.
The last two minutes of the first half were a disaster for Kosovo. In the 44th minute, Sterling’s breakthrough bait was completed well by Sancho.
A minute later, Sterling penetrated the right side of the Kosovo defense and finished the action with a mature pass towards Sancho who was waiting in front of goal. Sancho without difficulty sending the ball into the goal.
Winning four goals in the first half, England faced disaster in the early 10 minutes of the second half when Kosovo successfully created two goals back.
The collaboration between Muriqi and Berisha again shocked the British. A cross released by Muriqi made Berisha off the offside trap. Berisha then sends the ball with a hard kick into the left corner of the goal. The score changed to 5-2 in the 49th minute.
Muriqi then listed his name on the scoreboard in the 53rd minute through a penalty that made the score 5-3.
England national team had a chance to get back away but the execution of Harry Kane’s penalty in the 65th minute failed to meet the target. Score 5-3 then last until the end of the game.
