Rejuvenated Kane strikes gold as Trent and Gomes shine

Harry Kane put his recent plodding performances behind him with a pair of enormously Harry Kane finishes as he marked his 100th cap with gold boots and his 67th and 68th England goals.

The paucity of the opposition – a Finland team who earlier this year conceded four goals to actual Wales – cannot be ignored but there was still much to like about Lee Carsley’s England with Trent Alexander-Arnold once again revelling in a more Liverpool-esque role and Angel Gomes catching the eye on debut.

JORDAN PICKFORD

Gave everyone a minor fright with a heavy early touch but how he must long just once to have even one single Everton game that pans out like roughly 75 per cent of his England ones do.

TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD

There are very decent and very valid reasons why Gareth Southgate never really tried using Trent Alexander-Arnold the way Liverpool use Trent Alexander-Arnold, but this week does rather suggest that might have been an error. We have long positioned ourselves on the hill that states TAA’s midfield bits and pieces are so, so much more effective when he pops up there from right-back than when he has to try and do all the midfield work.

The concerns about his defending will never be answered on nights like this one, but it’s also true that an awful lot of England internationals are nights like this one where trying to unlock a committed and concerted low-block is the order of the day. Alexander-Arnold’s high-risk, high-reward passing choices are ideal for those nights, and on more than one occasion here he played a pass almost nobody else in the stadium had even spotted. Absolutely brilliant.

EZRI KONSA

Odd night for England’s starting centre-backs in that they had almost nothing to do and yet on more than one occasion before the break Finland were one better choice away from opening them up. Villa will be raging if the ankle injury that forced him off in the second half is serious.

JOHN STONES

We’re willing to cut a bit of slack to England’s centre-back pairing on the basis they haven’t played much together but there were a couple of moments where Stones and Konsa were only the loosest of alliances. Better opposition might have made more of it, but such is England’s current task that very little can be learned defensively over the next couple of breaks. Very little good, anyway.

RICO LEWIS

Continued the long and proud tradition of right-backs playing at left-back for England. Did fine. Better than the Guardiola-Arteta-adjacent centre-back-at-left-back policy Carsley went for in Dublin.

DECLAN RICE

Freed up for a few more forward forays by the combination of Carsley’s more front-foot inclinations, the presence alongside – or more accurately behind – him of Angel Gomes and, let’s be entirely real about this, the honking nature of the opposition. Seemed to enjoy himself in the very specific way that only a man playing a low-key midweek international knowing he’s suspended for the potentially more arduous task facing his club at the weekend can.

ANGEL GOMES

Very good. A huge positive for himself, obviously, but also for Carsley for whom Gomes represented his most out-there selection. It’s a known problem area for England, but there are lots of highly promising and very young potential solutions. Gomes, a player legally required to be referred to as ‘diminutive’ at least once every 27 minutes, at the very least put himself into that conversation alongside your Mainoos and Whartons. Might not be ideal for England that he actually got a few chances to showcase the defensive side of his game, given the limited nature of the opposition, but very encouraging that he completed those tasks with minimal fuss before nearly always picking out the sort of quietly correct pass you would take for granted from a 50-capper but which always catches the eye from a debutant.

Had more touches than any other England player and found the target with 93.6 per cent of his 123 passes. An absolutely textbook ‘looked like he’d been around the place for years rather than days’ effort, and you can’t really ask for more than that.

BUKAYO SAKA

Slightly frustrating night, one on which his known qualities were often on display but which lacked a decisive contribution despite a number of neat touches, smart runs and clever passes. It is of no great concern.

JACK GREALISH

Not quite as frequently or as effectively involved as against Ireland but still lovely to see him playing with freedom as a No. 10. We’re going to go ahead and blame Pep for the fact he had a tendency tonight to drift too far wide into areas better occupied by Anthony Gordon.

ANTHONY GORDON

Clearly going to be quite a significant figure in Carsball, if we can call it that which we absoutely shouldn’t, but while his pace and direct running from the left offers a welcome and stark contrast to the conspicuous lack of those things in the summer, the nit-picker in us cannot help but wish for a teensy bit more end product. We would, though, like to see Gordon given more opportunities to start even when Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham are back. He gives a lovely balance to the attack that has been missing recently.

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HARRY KANE

Brought it on ourselves, didn’t we? Even before his two expertly taken goals this special night for Kane had been far more encouraging than pretty much anything we saw from him during the summer or in Dublin at the weekend. Denied a goal by a tight VAR decision in the first half, Ol’ Golden Boots was not to be deprived of his moment in the second. His first goal of the night came shortly after he’d stung Lukas Hradecky’s palms with a free-kick and an acrobatic overhead kick in quick succession and was a Kane classic, shifting to find half-a-yard on the edge of the box before crashing a shot in off the underside of the bar after being smartly found by the superb Alexander-Arnold.

Whatever doubts there are about Kane – and we stand by those nagging doubts around his general mobility and speed off the mark in tougher, tighter games than this one – there is still almost nobody in world football you’d rather want to take a touch and a shot for you from around 16-22 yards. The second goal, swept into the corner from a Noni Madueke cutback in another move crafted initially by Alexander-Arnold was particularly delightful for immediately highlighting the folly of Lee Dixon’s co-commentary claim after the first goal that the great strikers like Kane just make sure to hit the target.

We’d still be happier if we could see some compelling and above all younger pretenders to Kane’s starting spot, and these are among the easier goals to discount from his overall record but this was nevertheless a timely and welcome reminder to us all – and sure, mainly specifically to us – that he can still do great things.

SUBSTITUTIONS

LEVI COLWILL (for Konsa, 61)

Got to play in his preferred position, which was nice. What little was required of him he did perfectly well, which was nice.

NONI MADUEKE (for Saka, 66)

Another debutant, and the Chelsea man bagged himself an assist for Kane’s second goal. Generally, though, spent most of his half-hour on the pitch not quite making the right decision after getting into some really very promising positions.

EBERECHI EZE (for Gordon, 66)

Still hasn’t quite happened for Eze in an England shirt. Very involved here in what was by the time of his introduction an absolute procession but lacked a moment to really light things up.

MARC GUEHI (for Stones, 79)

England’s best player from Euro 2024 sauntered off the bench and made one tackle followed by eye-catching forward pass to remind everyone of his existence.

JARROD BOWEN (for Kane, 79)

Main task was allowing the centurion his standing ovation. Task completed.