Your quick digest: Kane celebrates more landmarks as England make light work of Czechia
Nations League
England (2) 3 Coufal og 27, Kane 40, 57
Czech Republic (0) 0
In a nutshell: This was skipper Harry Kane's night once more. He scored twice while earning a record-equalling 125th cap - bringing him level with Peter Shilton. He was looking to add to the 89 goals he has as the country's most outstanding international marksman and is now on 91..
He did not immediately strike oil but was responsible for the opening goal when his low cross from the right was turned into his own net by ex-Hammer Vladimir Coufal. Then came his first goal and it was a beauty, with Elliot Anderson's first-time ball wide played immediately back into the centre by Morgan Rogers for an unmarked Kane to sweep home.
Soon after the restart, Kane rose highest at the far post to direct a Lewis Hall corner into the net past keeper Lukas Hornicek.
A fair outcome? England were dominant - hogging most of the ball and working well out of possession to limit the Czechs to scraps. England won the shot count 20-4 and had nearly two-thirds of possession. Those stats translated into an easy win.
The context: After the 7-0 demolition of Croatia in Rijeka a few days ago, the hope was that the Three Lions had a few more goals left in the tank. Having won comfortably enough against the Czechs in Prague last week (2-0), this was not expected to be too big a test to close out the four-game international break.
Was it entertaining: It was too one-sided to be overly-thrilling but Thomas Tuchel's side weaved plenty of eye-catching patterns to carve out lots of openings. Jordan Pickford, back in goal after James Trafford's stint between the sticks, had very little to do.
Who did well for England: Admirers of Trent Alexander-Arnold will have been delighted to see him start. He was soon flashing a curling free-kick at goal from miles out that forced a take-no-chances save. The combinations between Kane, Bellingham and Morgan Rogers kept promising goals. Lewis Hall and Anderson again impressed.
London angle: Myles Lewis-Skelly and Eberechi Eze were given starts and were both fairly comfortable early on without quite having as much influence as they would have liked to further their future claims to be in the starting XI. But they grew into it and Eze in particular produced some dazzling glides past flailing defenders. Lewis-Skelly picked up a booking which rules him out of England's next group match.
Wembley atmosphere: Hushed relaxation for the most part - with the noise levels rising whenever the world-class Bellingham had the ball at his feet. There was never going to be a fixture with the same intensity as against Spain two weeks ago. The Czechs are not exactly full of household names these days, with probably only Hornicek and their skipper Coufal recognisable figures for most English fans.
Line ups:
England (4-3-3): Pickford - Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Guehi (Branthwaite 63), Hall (Gibbs-White 72) - Anderson (Garner 63), Bellingham (Ngumoha 72), Lewis-Skelly - Rogers, Kane (Calvert-Lewin 82), Eze
Czechia (4-2-1-3): Hornicek - Coufal (Kricfalusi 84), Vitik, Hranac, Slama (Zmrzly 68) - Kral, Sadilek (Macek 68) - Suic - Ambros (Hlozek 60), Naderi, Lingr (Radosta h/t)
Attendance: 78.864
What comes next: In the November internationals, Tuchel's team will conclude their Nations League group with a home game against Croatia on Thursday 12th and a visit to Spain three days later.
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