Harry Kane scores twice on landmark night but Republic of Ireland woes continue
England captain Harry Kane scored twice on his 100th England appearance in a comfortable Nations League win against Finland.
All eyes were on the man in the golden boots at Wembley, where the 31-year-old was presented with a golden cap before kick-off having become just the 10th man to reach a century of appearances for the national team.
Kane followed Wayne Rooney and Sir Bobby Charlton in scoring in their 100th match for England, with the skipper rifling home both goals in a controlled 2-0 victory.
What it means! 😍 pic.twitter.com/JgzMDE7hNT
— England (@England) September 10, 2024
Interim boss Lee Carsley’s first match managing at Wembley was as dominant as Saturday’s win by the same scoreline away to the Republic of Ireland.
Fotis Ioannidis and Christos Tzolis extended Ireland’s misery as Greece emerged from their trip to Dublin with a 2-0 victory.
Ioannidis’ accomplished 50th-minute finish was matched by Tzolis three minutes from time to leave Ireland pointless in League B2 after two fixtures under new head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson.
It proved to be a familiar story for the Republic, who have now won just two of the 18 games they have played in the competition, and their only two victories in their last 10 competitive outings have come against minnows Gibraltar.
Nathan Ake was carried off injured on a stretcher as the Netherlands and Germany played out an entertaining 2-2 Group A3 draw in Amsterdam.
Manchester City defender Ake pulled up off the ball with what looked to be a serious muscular injury shortly after Deniz Undav’s first goal for Germany cancelled out Tijjani Reijnders’ early opener.
Joshua Kimmich put the visitors ahead in first-half added time before Denzel Dumfries levelled a thrilling clash at Johan Cruijff ArenA.
In the other match in that group, Hungary and Bosnia and Herzegovina played out a goalless draw in Budapest.
It ends all square in Amsterdam 🤝#DFB #GermanFootball #GermanMNT #NEDGER
📸 DFB/ Philipp Reinhard pic.twitter.com/wiKwCohBEu
— German Football (@DFB_Team_EN) September 10, 2024
Tomas Soucek’s late penalty proved decisive as the Czech Republic defeated Ukraine 3-2 in Group B1.
The West Ham midfielder’s 80th-minute spot-kick added to Pavel Sulc’s double. Georgiy Sudakov claimed a consolation for Ukraine, Vladyslav Vanat having earlier made it 1-1.
Giorgi Kochorashvili’s goal earned Georgia a 1-0 win away to Albania in the other B1 clash.
In Group C4, Latvia beat Faroe Islands 1-0 and 10-man North Macedonia were 2-0 victors against Armenia, while Malta defeated Andorra 1-0 in D2.