Bukayo Saka scored his first senior hat trick as England maintained their perfect run in Euro 2024 qualifying with a 7-0 thrashing of North Macedonia at Old Trafford on Monday night.
Saka’s three strikes included a fierce effort from distance while Harry Kane scored twice to keep Gareth Southgate’s side in a dominant position at the top of Group C.
North Macedonia stayed firm until Kane produced a controlled finish at the back stick while Saka doubled the lead with a thumped effort that soared past goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski at the near post.
Rashford rattled in the third before Arsenal star Saka reached his treble at the start of the second half, first crashing a half-volley into the top corner from the edge of the box and then finishing with ease to take home the match ball.
Kalvin Phillips grabbed a tap in moments after his introduction and Kane wrapped things up with an easy seventh from the penalty spot.
England’s 4-0 win over Malta sent them into this clash with the maximum of nine points from three games, while North Macedonia had beaten the same opposition before losing to Ukraine.
Rashford enjoyed some darts at Stefan Askovski on England’s left, threatening to come inside before hitting the byline on a few occasions. No finishing touch arrived early on, however, as North Macedonia kept the game goalless for the first 25 minutes.
They almost made it to the half hour mark but were undone as the Three Lions stretched play quickly. Jordan Henderson’s raking ball found Rashford, who held play up and fed Luke Shaw. His deflected cross arrived at the feet of Kane to score for the sixth England game in a row.
The visitors’ resistance was broken for the second time only nine minutes later. Saka collected the ball before Kyle Walker and Trent Alexander-Arnold combined and sent it back to Saka, who fired in England’s second high at the near post.
A dominant first half was given an added bonus as Kane nicked possession high up the pitch. Henderson ran onto the captain’s flick and squared for Rashford to make it 3-0 at his home ground.
The Three Lions were in rampant mood as Saka made the most out of Alexander-Arnold’s curled punt forward. The 21-year-old took the ball out of the air and had another touch with his chest before belting a wonderful fourth in for England.
Any notion of defending for the visitors had dissipated based on their efforts for England’s fifth and Saka’s third.
A scappy contest for possession broke for Kane, whose accurate pass split the North Macedonian backline open far too easily as Saka drifted in off his wing and easily finished beyond Dimitrievski.
Phillips only entered the fray in the 59th minute and was on the scoresheet only five minutes later. Fellow substitute Jack Grealish’s cross was cleared to his Man City teammate who rolled it into an empty net.
There were smiles all round when England were awarded a penalty. Kane was still on the pitch while Callum Wilson waited for his introduction from the bench but it was the Spurs forward who got his side’s seventh.
England’s energy levels were too much for North Macedonia throughout the game but they didn’t add to their seven goals, instead closing out the easy victory.
GK: Jordan Pickford – 6/10 – As quiet a night as the Everton goalie could have hoped for.
RB: Kyle Walker – 7/10 – Combined nicely on the right with Alexander-Arnold before picking out Saka.
CB: John Stones – 7/10 – Far too much cool on the ball to be troubled in possession
CB: Harry Maguire – 7/10 – Had a few confrontations with Macedonian attackers who tried to outpace him, but the Man Utd defender had few pressure moments to navigate. Almost grabbed an assist with a one-two involving Rashford.
LB: Luke Shaw – 8/10 – Got forward well and his deflected cross picked out Kane for the first goal.
CM: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 8/10 – Passing skilset again suited his midfield role here, with one ball over the top being brilliantly controlled and finished by Saka.
CM: Declan Rice – 6/10 – Booked for catching Elmas late. Not at his sharpest but hardly given the runaround.
CM: Jordan Henderson – 8/10 – Searching pass was crucial in the build-up to the first goal and his desire alongside Kane led to Rashford’s strike.
RW: Bukayo Saka – 9/10 – Showed clinical finishing all night to record his first senior hat trick in brilliant, exciting fashion.
ST: Harry Kane -8/10 – A familiar finish to put England ahead and stole possession back before Rashford netted. Grabbed his second from the spot before going off.
LW: Marcus Rashford – 8/10 – Was electric early on with his running in attack and deservedly got on the scoresheet.
Substitutes
Conor Gallagher (58′ for Henderson) – 6/10 – Kept England’s energy up as they swarmed the opposition midfield.
Jack Grealish (58′ for Rashford) – 6/10 – Still spritely enough even after his treble celebrations.
Phil Foden (58′ for Saka) – 5/10 – Not producing the same entertainment in comparison to fellow young talent Saka at international level.
Kalvin Phillips (59′ for Rice) – 7/10 – Came on and scored probably the easiest goal of his career.
Callum Wilson (74′ for Kane) – 6/10 – Didn’t get the chance from the spot that Kane did. All smiles regardless.
Subs not used: Kieran Trippier, Aaron Ramsdale, Marc Guehi, Tyrone Mings, James Maddison, Eberechi Eze, Sam Johnstone.
Manager
Gareth Southgate – 7/10 – Kept going with the TAA in midfielder experiment and managed to rotate his top options before the next games in September.
GK: Stole Dimitrievski (3); CB: Stefan Ristovski (6), CB: Gjoko Zajkov (4), CB: Darko Velkovski (5); RWB: Stefan Askovski (4), CM: Eljif Elmas (6), CM: Arijan Ademi (6), CM: Enis Bardhi (6), LWB: Ezgjan Alioski (5); ST: Aleksandar Trajkovski (5), ST: Ilija Nestorovski (5).
Player of the match – Bukayo Saka (England)
