Jadon Sancho admitted that it was ‘special’ to score his first senior goals for England and dedicated his two strikes in the 5-3 win over Kosovo to his late grandmother.
The 19-year-old was brought into Gareth Southgate’s side in place of Marcus Rashford alongside Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling in a formidable three-man attack.
Kosovo took a shock early lead, but goals from Sterling, Kane and an own goal by Mergim Vojvoda put England in front before Sancho netted twice in quick succession to make it 5-1 before half-time.
Sancho took his first confidently, firing in a low shot from a Sterling pass, before side-footing into an empty net a couple of minutes later after Sterling’s attempted chip over Aro Muric dropped to his feet.
Speaking post-match, Sancho said: ‘Yeah, it was a good run from Raheem, he picked it up in the middle and then found me and I was happy to just slot it home.
‘It means a lot to me personally, especially for my family, it’s a special day. My goal is dedicated to my nan because she was a big fan of me but sadly she passed away.’
Although England maintained their 100 percent record in their Euro 2020 qualifying group, their defending throughout the game will have caused Southgate some concern.
Kosovo’s first two goals both came as a result of poor passes from Michael Keane and Declan Rice before Harry Maguire conceded a penalty for the third with a clumsy challenge.
Sancho acknowledged that England were sloppy in the second half, saying: ‘I think we were a bit slow and they caught us out. Next time we’ll pick up on that and learn from that.’
The Borussia Dortmund winger has now scored four goals and registered four assists in five games for club and country this season.
