Hungary 0, England 4 (World Cup Qualifying)
Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane, Harry Maguire, and Declan Rice scored against a stubborn Hungary as England took control of their World Cup qualifying group.
Embed from Getty ImagesHungary had frustrated both France and Germany in the Euros and looked set to repeat their feat after a sterile first half with no shots on target before England smashed the Hungarians in the second half to inflict only their 3rd defeat in 17 games on them.
Hungary goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi prevented a more embarrassing scoreline after saving three great chances for Kane plus one from Sterling as England turned on the style in an increasingly hostile atmosphere with bottles thrown and alleged reports of racist chanting.
John Stones earned his 50th England cap in Hungary as Gareth Southgate picked City new man Jack Grealish as a starter.
Kieran Trippier dropped out of the side in the only change from the Euro 2020 final at Wembley 53 days ago as Gareth Southgate switched to a back four.
Travel restrictions meant that there were no away fans in Budapest’s 67,000 capacity Puskas Arena.
The local fans roundly booed England’s taking of the knee prior to the game, which was played under FIFA jurisdiction.
Hungary have been ordered to play their next three home games under UEFA jurisdiction behind closed doors after their fans were found guilty of discriminatory behaviour relating to racism and other discriminatory conduct which made the fan reaction to England’s second half performance even more disappointing.
FIFA will surely have to investigate this latest incident and react accordingly.
England punish Hungary in second half romp after being frustrated by their hosts
Harry Maguire headed over in the first six minutes from a Luke Shaw corner as England started well.
Harry Kane had two early shots in between a defensive clearance by Stones as England started slowly despite dominating possession in the early stages against a highly defensive Hungary side.
England could not afford to be sloppy though and a better ball by Bendeguz Bolla to Roland Sallai would have left Jordan Pickford exposed.
Declan Rice gave away a crucial free kick 6 minutes from half time and dangerous Dominik Szoboszlai, who missed the Euros with injury, fired the 25 yard set piece high and wide.
Shaw’s second half free kick was repelled while Harry Kane found himself clear but his shot while under pressure from Willi Orban was too close to Peter Gulacsi.
But it wasn’t long before England broke the deadlock, and Raheem was delighted to score after tapping in from Mason Mount’s cutback after Grealish sent the Chelsea man clear on the left.
The England man was booked for taking his shirt off to reveal a message on his shirt as he celebrated his 16th strike in his last 24 caps – his 18th goal for his country in all.
Sterling was frustrated minutes later when he was denied a penalty after a stray boot from Willi Bolla as he tried to clear the ball.
Kane finally got his goal in the 63rd minute when he converted a deflected cross by Sterling past Gulacsi with a flying header after Hungary game the ball away to Kalvin Phillips trying to build up from defence.
Kane had now scored in each of the last 13 Euro or World Cup qualifying matches for a total of 17 goals in all
Gulacsi also saved from Kane who was looking to make the game safe as Hungary lost their discipline.
But he could no nothing about the resulting corner which saw Shaw plant the ball perfectly onto Maguire’s head during a rain of cups after he had created space for himself – Gulacsi couldn’t hold onto the ball and it went in for Maguire’s fifth goal for England – four from headers.
The home fans had thrown a flare onto the pitch by this time, but the home side had fallen apart in the last quarter of the game.
Sterling found himself clean through towards the end but despite being probably offside anyway, he fluffed his lines with a tame shot which was saved by Gulacsi who also saved from Kane after Grealish had sent him clean through.
Jordan Pickford finally had a shot to save from Daniel Salloi with 10 minutes to go.
Jesse Lingard replaced Mason Mount with 6 minutes to go as England comfortably saw out the win with a fourth goal after Grealish laid the ball off to Rice who hammered home his second England goal from 25 yards out as they put their summer Euros disappointment behind them.
GOALS – Hungary 0, England 4 (World Cup Qualifying)
Hungary 0, England 1: 55. Raheem Sterling broke the deadlock with a 6 yard tap-in after he met Mason Mount’s cutback from the left with a deadly finish.
Hungary 0, England 2: 63. Harry Kane’s flying header from Raheem Sterling’s deflected cross put England in a commanding position.
Hungary 0, England 3: 69. Harry Maguire towering header was spilled by Peter Gulacsi for England’s third goal from Luke Shaw’s corner.
Hungary 0, England 4: 87. Declan Rice hammered home a low goal from 25 yards out after Jack Grealish laid off the ball to him.
MATCH STATS – Hungary 0, England 4 (World Cup Qualifying)
Hungary: Gulacsi, Kecskes, Orban, Attila Szalai, Bolla (Kevin Varga 70), Kleinheisler (Gazdag 83), Schafer, Fiola, Sallai (Salloi 66), Szoboslai, Adam Szalai (C)
Hungary subs not used: Bogdan, Dibusz, Lang, Cseri, Roland Varga, Tamas, Hahn, Schon, Nikolic
Booked: Bolla 35 (foul on Jack Grealish); Orban 57 (foul on Jack Grealish); Gazdag 89 (foul on Harry Kane)
England: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw, Phillips, Rice (Henderson (88), Sterling, Mount (Lingard 84), Grealish (Saka 88), Kane (C)
England subs not used: Johnstone, Pope, Trippier, Mings, Coady, Alexander-Arnold, James, Bellingham, Bamford
Booked: Rice 54 (foul on Andras Schafer); Sterling 56 (taking off his shirt after scoring)
Goals: Sterling 55; Kane 63; Maguire 69; Rice 87
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir