Gareth Southgate speaks: “I think it improved as the game went on,” he says of England’s performance in an interview with ITV. “We didn’t need to over-complicate things. Their formation caused us a few issues when we were out of possession, but it was a comprehensive victory in the end.”
Asked if there was any complacency on the part of England’s players: “We can improve on what we did,” he says. “There was no attitude or complacency ... every [opposition] team is going to have moments. I’m generally pleased, some of our attacking play is very exciting.”
Match report: England 4-0 Bulgaria
Daniel Taylor was at Wembley to see Harry Kane score a hat-trick as England swept Bulgaria aside.
Next up for England: They face Kosovo, who are unbeaten in 15 matches, in Southampton on Tuesday. They’re top of Group A, a point clear of the Kosovars as things stand and will hope to increase their lead.
Meanwhile at Watford: Having announced the departure of Javier Gracia during the first half of England’s match, Watford have announced the return of Quique Sánchez Flores to the helm during the second.
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Full time: England 4-0 Bulgaria
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeep!!! England canter to victory and go top of Group A following a fairly straightforward victory over a Bulgaria side that are a mere shadow of the great side that reached the World Cup semi-final at USA 94. Harry Kane scored two penalties on his way to a hat-trick, while Raheem Sterling was also on the scoresheet on a night Mason Mount came on as a substitute to make his debut.
90+2 min: Danny Rose picks up a needless booking for a late challenge on Anton Nedyalkov.
90+1 min: We’re into added time of what’s turned into a routine victory for England. They went in just one goal up at half-time, but subsequently put plenty of daylight between themselves and Bulgaria in the second half.
88 min: Rashford plays a magnificently deft one-two with Ross Barkley and finds himself through on goal when picking up the return pass. He attempts to lift the ball over Plaman Iliev, but the goalkeeper does brilliantly to save with his face.
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87 min: Sarmov is fit to continue and on ITV commentary, Clive Tyldesley points out that it’s the midfielder’s 34th birthday today. That was a present from Rashford he could have done without.
85 min: A bad day gets considerably worse for Georgi Sarmov, who half turns to block a shot from Marcus Rashford and goes to ground in agony after taking it full force in the plums.
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84 min: A soft-shoe shuffle from Danny Rose in the Bulgaria penalty area and he suddenly finds himself in a yard of space. He shoots from about seven or eight yards out, but his effort is blocked by Ivelin Popov.
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82 min: Bulgarian left-back Anton Nedyalkov points into the middle distance for no apparent reason. There’s nothing much else going on, so why shouldn’t the man?
78 min: England substitution: Harry Kane off, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on. Despite scoring a hat-trick, Kane doesn’t take the match-ball with him as he leaves the pitch ... which is probably a good thing, as there’s still over 10 minutes to go.
76 min: From the free-kick, a little to the right of the D, Ivelin Popov aims for the top right-hand corner and Jordan Pickford touches it over the bar. From the ensuing corner, Bulgaria are denied a penalty when the ref fails to spot Ross Barkley shoving Kiril Despodov in the small of the back. The substitute made a meal of going to ground, but there was no doubt he deserved a spot-kick.
74 min: Harry Maguire is forced to concede a free-kick on the edge of his own penalty area after being played into a spot of bother by a rogue pass from Jordan Pickford.
GOAL! England 4-0 Bulgaria (Kane 73pen)
Kane scores his hat-trick! Harry Kane scores with ease, despite the goalkeeper guessing the right way this time. He fires to Iliev’s right and the ball fizzes into the back of the net.
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Penalty for England!
Harry Kane is brought down by the substitute Dimitrov, who takes his standing leg from underneath him.
70 min: England substitute: Raheem Sterling off, Jadon Sancho on. Sterling has been outstanding for England tonight and is applauded off.
69 min: Mason Mount takes his first shot in anger as a senior England international. Hopefully his next one will be more accurate.
67 min: Bulgaria substitution: Marcelinho off, Kiril Despodov on.
65 min: Bulgaria substitution: central defender Nikolay Bodurov is replaced by Kristian Dimitrov. England substitute: Jordan Henderson makes way for Mason Mount, who comes on for his debut after just four Premier League appearances.
64 min: Vasil Bozhikov clears acrobatically to prevent another delivery getting to Kane.
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63 min: Kieran Trippier sends a cross into the Bulgaria penalty area from the right, which is headed clear.
61 min: England attack on the counter, with Henderson on the ball. Barkley, Rice and Rose get involved as Bulgaria pour back in numbers.
57 min: Kane was put in behind down the inside left and looked up to see Sterling making a run into the penalty area. He did well to stay Kane-side of his marker and was able to direct the squared ball into the net with his knee or upper thigh from a matter of inches. It was unselfish play from Kane, who is on a hat-trick and would probably have fancied his chances of scoring himself.
GOAL! England 3-0 Bulgaria (Sterling 55)
Sterling!!! The winger knees the ball home from all of one yard out, making no mistake as he got on the end of a Harry Kane dink from the left side of the six-yard box.
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54 min: Strahil Popov passes to Ivelin Popov (still no relation), who is promptly dispossessed by Marcus Rashford in midfield. The Bulgarian is nothing if not dogged, however and quickly wins the ball back.
52 min: Going back to the penalty incident, Marcus Rashford did well to win the penalty. He’d got past Bodurov and was trying to jink back inside. The Bulgarian tripped him with an outstretched leg and was penalised, but got away without being shown a second yellow card.
50 min: Harry Maguire leaps unchallenged to get on the end of a Ross Barkley corner-kick, but sends his effort wide from the edge of the penalty area.
GOAL! England 2-0 Bulgaria (Kane 49pen)
England double their lead. Harry Kane scores from the penalty spot after Marcus Rashford had been brought down in the Bulgaria penalty area by Nikolay Bodurov.
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48 min: Wanderson blasts the ball straight at Pickford from a tight angle after getting in behind the England defence.
47 min: Wanderson plays the ball up the left flank for Bulgaria left-back Anton Nedyalkov to chase. His cross into the England penalty area is cleared by Harry Maguire.
Second half: England 1-0 Bulgaria
46 min: Galin Ivanov gets the ball rolling for the second half, with his side a goal down. They immediately advance up the field, but Jordan Pickford is quick off his line to intercept a weighted pass in behind the English defence from deep.
Half-time: England 1-0 Bulgaria
England lead at the break: It’s been a fairly dreadful game in which Bulgaria defended reasonably stoutly before gifting England the lead while trying to be a little bit too clever. Harry Kane scored to put the home side ahead, but Bulgaria have squandered two good scoring chances of their own.
44 min: England lay siege to the Bulgaria penalty area. Georgi Sarmov clearly blocks a Marcus Rashford cross heading for Harry Kane with his arm, then laughs and pats his own shoulder when the England striker enquires if he’d handled the ball. To repeat: VAR is not in use tonight.
43 min: Ross Barkley wins a corner for England. It’s played short and an angle is created for Kieran Trippier to curl a cross into the penalty area. Harry Kane holds off Bodurov as he leaps to meet the ball with his head, but his effort is weak and straight at Iliev in the Bulgaria goal.
41 min: Harry Kane is flagged for offside as he receives a pass and prepares to swivel and put Raheem Sterling in behind. As games go, this is a very dull match and the atmosphere is predictably flat ... but England are doing enough to get the job done.
39 min: One presumes Watford hoped that by announcing the sacking of Javier Gracia during an England game on a Saturday afternoon, they hoped nobody would notice. That’s worked well for them. Anyway, it’s not as if we wouldn’t all notice eventually ... not least when they walk out at Vicarage Road to play Arsenal next weekend and he’s not there because he’s been replaced by somebody else.
37 min: Bulgaria central defender Nikolay Bodourov is beaten for pace by Marcus Rashford and grabs a handful of the Englishman’s shirt to prevent him from getting away. Yellow card!
36 min: Danny Rose arrows a cross into the Bulgaria penalty, but it’s a little behind Harry Kane and a little too far ahead of Raheem Sterling. Bulgaria clear.
34 min: In the absence of anything much going on at Wembley, Watford have decided to liven up the evening by sacking their manager Javier Gracia.
30 min: On another Bulgarian counter-attack, Galin Popov crosses from the right to his namesake Ivelin Popov (no relation). It’s on a plate for the midfielder, but his header is weak and doesn’t trouble Jordan Pickford.
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29 min: Bulgaria win a free-kick for a Keane foul on Marcelinho in the centre-circle. The England defender gets a yellow card for his troubles and can have few complaints.
28 min: Raheem Sterling sends another cross towards Kane, but his delivery is cut out by Georgi Sarmov, who makes a crucial interception.
25 min: Dearie me. Trying to play the ball out for from the back, Bulgaria goalkeeper Plaman Iliev tries to ping a pass towards Vasil Bozhikov on the edge of the penalty area. His delivery is wayward and goes straight to Raheem Sterling instead. Advancing towards the byline, he pulls a diagonal ball into the path of Harry Kane who slots home from six yards out.
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GOAL! England 1-0 Bulgaria (Kane 24)
England lead. Slapstick stuff from Bulgaria allows them to go ahead.
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20 min: Assorted England players pass the ball amongst themselves in the area between the halfway line and the edge of the centre-circle, keeping possession but making no progress up the pitch. It’s dreary stuff.
19 min: Harry Kane strays offside before firing a cross from Raheem Sterling past Bulgaria goalkeeper Plaman Iliev at the end of a counter-attack. Close, but no cigar.
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15 min: From the left flank, Danny Rose pulls an airborne cross towards Jordan Henderson, standing a couple of yards outside the bulgaria penalty area. He makes contact with a sweet volley, but sends the ball fizzing well wide of the goal.
13 min: England continue to press and dominate, but Bulgaria have had the only chance of note so far. Trippier tries to play Sterling in behind, but Anton Nedyalkov is quick to react and intercepts his delivery.
11 min: Raheem Sterling skips past Ivelin Popov and trys a shot from inside the Bulgaria penalty area. It’s put out for a corner off Nikolay Bodurov but again, nothing comes from the set piece.
A big moment for the future of the Bulgarian game as the naturalised 31-year-old Brazilian Wanderson gets his first touch in international football after 04:24 minutes
— Jonathan Wilson (@jonawils) September 7, 2019
9 min: Barkley plays the ball wide to Danny Rose, who had cantered up the left flank towards the byline. He pulls the ball back into the Bulgaria penalty area and it’s cleared.
7 min: Another feeble Wanderson shot goes out for a corner off the hand of Michael Keane. Nothing comes from the set piece. FYI: there’s no VAR in use tonight, a state of affairs for which we should all be grateful.
5 min: CHANCE!!! Wanderson shoots tamely at Jordan Pickford from just inside the England penalty area after being teed up by Marcelinho, as Bulgaria galloped downfield on the counterattack. He should have done a lot better than that.
4 min: Assorted England players ping the ball around, halfway inside the Bulgaria half, trying to find a way through the 11 Bulgarian players in front of them.
3 min: Nothing comes of the corner, which was swung into the penalty area by Ross Barkley. Bulgaria half-cleared and that man Bozhikov was on hand to block a snap-shot from Raheem Sterling.
2 min: Bulgaria line up with a back five, setting out a rather defensive stall early doors. I’m not sure any of their players have touched the ball yet. Vasil Bozhikov rectifies that situation, sliding in to dispossess Raheem Sterling and concede a corner.
England v Bulgaria is go!
1 min: England get the ball rolling, playing in white shirts, navy shorts and white socks. The players of Bulgaria wear red shirts, white shorts and red socks.
Not long now: Despite somehow managing to clash heads in the warm-up, Harry Maguire and Declan Rice are both fit to start and take their places as the teams line-up and march out on to the Wembley sward and line up either side of the three match officials.
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Two Brazilians in the Bulgaria line-up: As you may have guessed from the line-ups, England’s opponents are fielding two naturalised Brazilians tonight. Striker Marcelinho plays for Ludogorets, as does debutant winger Wanderson.
Gareth Southgate speaks: He tells ITV that Jesse Lingard has been sent home with some manner of illness and will not be considered for Tuesday’s game against Kosovo.
He is then asked about his decision to opt for experience over youth. “We’re always looking at training and at the opposition, to see what’s going to be needed for the game,” he says. “We have to win football matches, it’s not a case of just giving people caps. If we can blood young players as well, we’ve always tried to do that.”
No real surprises in the England team: It’s quite a “safe” selection and much as expected, with Michael Keane, rather than Joe Gomez, lining up beside Harry Maguire in the centre of defence. Jesse Lingard misses out after suffering from illness over the past couple of days ... although amore cynical observer than me might suggest he would have missed out anyway. On recent form he’s not worthy of a place in the squad, let alone a place in the starting XI.
Elsewhere, the inclusion of Marcus Rashford ahead of Jadon Sancho is bound to raise a few eyebrows, while Kieran Trippier and Ross Barkley get the nod ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold and James Maddison.
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England v Bulgaria line-ups
England: Pickford, Trippier, Keane, Maguire, Rose, Henderson, Rice, Barkley, Sterling, Kane, Rashford.
Subs: Heaton, Pope, Gomez, Mount, Wilson, Mings, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chilwell, Maddison, Winks, Sancho, Alexander-Arnold.
Bulgaria: Iliev, Strahil Popov, Bodurov, Bozhikov, Nedyalkov, Sarmov, Galin Ivanov, Ivelin Popov, Malinov, Wanderson, Marcelinho.
Subs: Slavchev, Pashov, Goranov, Daniel Mladenov, Terziev, Lukov, Kristian Dimitrov, Nikolay Dimitrov, Hristo Ivanov, Milanov, Despodov, Kraev.
Elsewhere in Group A: Kosovo and the Czech Republic played in Pristina earlier this afternoon, where the hosts emerged as surprise 2-1 winners. Kosovo are now top of the group, two points clear of England in second place, but have played two games more.
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Early team news: Manchester United right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka got his first England call-up last week, but was forced to stand down with a back injury, so will have to wait for his chance. Gareth Southgate is expected to go with experience, which means Mason Mount, Tyrone Mings and James Maddison will probably start this game on the bench.
While Jadon Sancho and Michael Keane could start for England, early speculation suggests Southgate will pick the following XI: Pickford; Trippier, Gomez, Maguire, Rose; Henderson, Rice, Barkley; Sterling, Rashford, Kane.
For Bulgaria, midfielders Todor Nedelev and Georgi Kostadinov, along with centre-back Bozhidar Chorbadzhiyski are all unavailable.
Group A: England v Bulgaria
Wembley is the venue for what should – repeat, should – be a fairly routine victory for England on their way to qualification for Euro 2020. In Bulgaria, they face opponents who are 56 places below them in the Fifa rankings and currently bottom of the Group. This is the teams’ first meeting since a qualifier for Euro 2012.
On that occasion England ran out easy 3-0 winners, courtesy of a goal for Gary Cahill followed by a Wayne Rooney brace. Kick-off at Wembley is at 5pm, but stay tuned for team news and build-up in the meantime.
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