Kane-inspired England cruise past Ukraine into Euro semis

Harry Kane struck twice as England thrashed Ukraine 4-0 on Saturday to reach their first European Championship semi-final since 1996 and set up a clash with Denmark.

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The England captain raced onto a Raheem Sterling through ball to fire in the opener from close range after four minutes at the Stadio Olimpico, England's earliest goal in a Euros match since 2004.

Harry Maguire headed home a second less than a minute into the second half and Kane soon nodded in his side’s third as Ukraine's resistance crumbled.

Substitute Jordan Henderson completed the rout with his first international goal to ensure England's comfortable passage into the last four.

Gareth Southgate’s side will face Denmark at Wembley on Wednesday for a place in the final after the Danes defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 in Baku.

Fans had barely settled in their seats by the time England took the lead with a well-worked move.

Sterling cut in off the left wing and slid a through ball into a pocket of space behind the defence for Kane to race through and guide into the net with a neat finish.

Ukraine mustered their first effort when Kyle Walker gave the ball away in midfield and Roman Yaremchuk raced through to draw a good save by Jordan Pickford from a tight angle, while England's Declan Rice and Jadon Sancho had shots beaten away by Georgiy Bushchan before halftime.

But England flexed their muscles after the break and ended the game as a contest within five minutes of the restart, helped by two fine assists from Luke Shaw.

The left-back whipped a free-kick onto Maguire’s head for a close-range finish in the first minute of the second half before steering a perfect delivery towards Kane for a simple close-range header four minutes later.

The goal sent Kane level with Alan Shearer as England’s second-top scorer at major tournaments with nine goals, behind Gary Lineker on 10, and he was denied a hat-trick when his ferocious volley was palmed away by the diving Bushchan.

England made it four from the resulting corner when Ukraine again failed to deal with a set-piece delivery as Henderson nodded in from six yards to score his first goal for his country on his 62nd cap.

MATCH FACTS

England will play in their third semi-final at the European Championship, having previously done so in 1968 and 1996.

Gareth Southgate will be just the second England manager to take charge of England in the semi-final of both the World Cup and the European Championship, after Alf Ramsey in 1966 and 1968.

This was England’s biggest ever win at the European Championship, and their biggest win in the knockout stages of a major tournament. Indeed, England scored as many goals tonight as they had in their previous four EURO 2020 matches combined.

England have kept seven consecutive clean sheets for the first time in their history, with the Three Lions run without conceding currently standing at 662 minutes.

This was Ukraine’s joint-biggest defeat in a match at a major tournament, equalling their 4-0 defeat to Spain in the group stages of the 2006 World Cup.

Raheem Sterling has been involved in 22 goals in his last 21 games for England (15 goals, 7 assists), while Harry Kane has been involved in 27 in his last 26 for the Three Lions (18G, 9A).

Raheem Sterling has provided six assists for Harry Kane for England in all competitions, more than any England player has assisted another in the 21st century.

Luke Shaw’s assist for Harry Maguire was the first time two Manchester United players have combined for an England goal at a major tournament since David Beckham assisted Paul Scholes vs Portugal in EURO 2000.

England keeper Jordan Pickford has kept five clean sheets at EURO 2020 so far – no keeper has ever kept more in a single edition of the competition before.

Luke Shaw became the first England player to assist two goals in a single game at a major tournament since David Beckham did so against Trinidad and Tobago in the 2006 World Cup.

Jordan Henderson’s goal was his first for England in his 62nd appearance for the Three Lions. Of all players to score at least once for England, Henderson’s 62 games is the longest a player has ever had to wait (previously Sol Campbell, 47).