Thomas Tuchel made a winning start to his England reign as he led his team to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Albania in their first game of the World Cup qualifiers.
Football Blog predicted an easy victory for the Three Lions, having won all their previous six meetings with the Red and Blacks.
The visitors sought to frustrate their opponents but their ploy didn’t work. Myles Lewis-Skelly broke the deadlock in the 19th minute, sliding home a composed finish after a brilliant pass from Jude Bellingham.
It made the Arsenal left-back the youngest player to score on his England debut, breaking Marcus Rashford’s previous record set in May 2016.
Dan Burn also had a dream debut as he produced a sensational display in front of the Wembley crowd.
The 32-year-old had an incredible 153 touches, completed 99% of his passes and made seven clearances in the match. He also came close to scoring in the first-half when he headed against the bar.
However, Albania grew into the game after the break and threatened to find an equaliser. Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa had to make a huge last-ditch challenge to deny Jasir Asani who was racing in towards the goalkeeper.
However, Harry Kane soon ended their hopes of a comeback as he scored from close range in the 77th minute.
It was a solid performance from England, but the thrills and intensity Tuchel promised after succeeding Gareth Southgate were missing.
However, the former Chelsea boss will be very happy to get a first win on the board.
The Three Lions will now return to action on Monday night when they welcome Latvia, who overcame Andorra 1-0 yesterday, to Wembley in their second game of the group stages.
England are the top favourites to top Group K, which include Serbia, Latvia, Andorra and Albania.
Stats from Sofascore
