3️⃣ points as England beat Kosovo in south coast cracker | OneFootball

England fought back from an early scare to overcome Kosovo 5-3 in an entertaining affair in Southampton on Tuesday night.

We look at what we learned from a topsy-turvy contest.

Raheem Star-ling

There can be no debating it anymore. Raheem Sterling is undoubtedly the star man of this England side.

Harry Kane might score more goals. Jadon Sancho may show more flair. Trent Alexander-Arnold could top him for assists.

But the Manchester City man is the complete package. He does everything for this England side and does it so well.

After England fell behind, he single-handedly took the game to the underdogs, demanding the ball and determined to do something with it.

A close range header shows he even has that in his locker, while he provided a devastating swivel and turn of pace to tee up Harry Kane to turn the game around.

He is also such a menace with the ball at his feet, as he showed for his surging runs for the second and fifth goals, but also in his general play.

Too Keane, Michael

One of only blots on an otherwise enjoyable night at the office on the south coast was the manner of the first goal conceded.

It came in utterly needless fashion and you simply cannot commit as abject an error as Michael Keane did within the opening minute.

Whether it was a lack of focus so early in the game or a simple misjudgement, it has did his chances of retaining his place major harm.

He was already the odd man out in the central defensive pairing but Gareth Southgate has shown he is willing to give players a chance to earn it.

John Stones and Joe Gomez likely won’t be worrying about their chances of reclaiming the spot too much.

Courageous Kosovo go down fighting

Do not make the mistake of getting entirely the wrong impression about this Kosovo side based on one result.

To ship five was disappointing but they showed great heart to recover in the second half against an England team in full flight, while they were a long way from their strongest.

Injuries deprived them of several important players for the game too, such as Milot Rashica, Arbër Zeneli, Herolind Shala, Benjamin Kololli and Hekuran Kryeziu.

Yet they still acquitted themselves reasonably well given that they were without some key men for an already small squad and never wavered from trying to play their expansive, passing game.

There was admittedly a sense of both bravery and naivety to their display, particularly given how high they deployed their defence against a fast attack.

But they went to Southampton intent on living and dying by the sword and they did just that – surely winning some new fans along the way.

Not many would have expected them to hit the net three times at St Mary’s. They leave with their heads held high.