Irresistible. Unstoppable. Relentless.
You can take your pick from a variety of adjectives to describe England’s 7-0 Nations League win in Croatia.
Thomas Tuchel’s men were utterly rampant from the first minute to the last as they easily swatted aside a nation who they have enjoyed more than a few duels with down the years.
Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka each grabbed a brace in Rijeka, with Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers also getting in on the act.
Croatia’s performance undoubtedly contributed to the scoreline with ample unforced errors and schoolboy defending. It began early with just eight minutes played when Kane opened the scoring. Bellingham played a nice pass into Kane and the Bayern Munich man took it in his stride before blasting home.
One became two when Bellingham finished from close range after clever work from Gordon to keep alive a move. Gordon then made it 3-0 with a powerful, stooping header – his second in as many games after a similar one against Czech Republic midweek.
There was just about time for a fourth before the half-time bell, as Saka tapped in after being left criminally unmarked a couple of yards out.
With the game done and dusted after the first half many would have forgiven England for stepping off the gas after the interval. Sadly for the hosts, that wasn’t the case.
Kane scored his second and England’s fifth as he applied the key touch to a wicked Elliot Anderson centre. Josip Stanišić then gifted the visitors another, with a bonkers attempt to play the ball across his own penalty box. Saka exchanged passes with Kane before rifling home the sixth goal.
Sub Rogers then collected a ball over the top, rounded the goalkeeper and finished coolly to wrap up proceedings.
Post-match, Tuchel was understandably beaming. The German said: “From the first until the last minute, everyone who started and everyone came from the bench, it was the highest level and congratulations to the team.
“On an away pitch very, very impressive. We created so many chances. The first 40 minutes we were so fluid from the start. I remember looking at the clock, I thought, ‘Wow, this is a good three minutes’, then looked again and it was a good seven minutes.
“It just never stopped. We kept the pace up and played through the gaps. We were very clinical. Stayed hungry in our counter-pressing and defending, so we did the basics right. I love the attitude. We always played humble and always got the basics right and that’s why it was a complete performance.”
England round off this elongated international break on Tuesday when they welcome the Czechs to Wembley.
