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In a match marred by racists remarks against English players by the home crowd in the Podgorica City Stadium, England thrashed Montenegro 5-1 to top group A with 6 points.
It was Montenegro who scored the first goal as Marko Vešović in the 17th minute to give the lead to the hosts and bring hopes of another upset at home. The lead was short lived though, as Michael Keane equalized 13 minutes later from a floating ball produced by Ross Barkley.
Barkley then took centrestage as he scored a brace to give the Three Lions a 3-1 lead after 59 minutes. Then, it was the time for the captain to have his name on the scoresheet as Harry Kane slotted home his 17th goal in 20 appearances under Gareth Southgate to make it 4-1 after 71 minutes. Raheem Sterling further increased the lead to 5 as the Manchester City winger slotted home his first of the night after a brilliant ball from Jordan Henderson.
Here's a look at 5 talking points in England's thrashing of Montenegro.
#1 Callum Hudson-Odoi makes history
An injury to Jadon Sancho coupled with an impressive showing against the Czech Republic after coming on as a substitute in the 70th minute saw England manager Gareth Southgate to give a debut competitive start for the 18-year old Chelsea winger, Callum Hudson-Odoi.
The 18-year old became the second youngest player ever to don the jersey of the Three Lions in a competitive fixture and the youngest since 2003. However, former Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney still holds the record of being the youngest player in a competitive match for England after coming on against Turkey in a 2-0 victory.
An even more remarkable fact is that the 18-year old Odoi made his first start in international football despite having never to start a single Premier League match for the Blues.
#2 Hudson-Odoi answers his critics but shows his inexperience
The hype is real, Callum Hudson-Odoi has had a night to remember on Monday as the teenager bagged an assist in the dominating win over Montenegro.
Hudson-Odoi, who was only called up to the side after facing numerous injuries in Gareth Southgate's squad, had a poor start to the match as the teenager inexperience caused England to concede the first goal of the match. Odoi failed to contest an air ball, resulting in Marko Vešović getting the ball and scoring the first goal of the night.
The teenager initially gave Kyle Walker extra work to do as he failed to track back and help the right back in defence. A switch to the left wing saw the teenager expressing himself more. After the switch in position, the England attack became more focused on the left-hand side as Odoi took the game right to the Montenegro defence.
The winger was direct and enjoyed a lot more space on the wings as he provided the assist for Ross Barkley to score his first goal in an England jersey since 2015. The Montenegro defense could not cope with the teenager's speed as he made inroads into the opposition's defense time and time again.
The second half was a little bit quiet for the teenager as Ross Barkley and Raheem Sterling basked in the glory of the thrashing done.
#3 Montenegro impressive on the counter
If there was a single problem that was evident in the English game today, it was their defense's lack of composure in regaining their shape in the offset of a counter attack.
As impressive as England were on the counter, Montenegro gave the English defense a tough time before Ross Barkley scored the third goal and opened the floodgates. The English left quite a lot of space on the wings, which were impressively used by Montenegro as they came close to levelling the score while 2-1 down.
Marko Vešović handled Kyle Walker well as the 27-year old twisted and turned away from the Manchester City man only to see a combination of poor positional play and poor finishing, playing spoilsport for his team.
#4 Declan Rice impresses as Barkley steals the show
The second debut featured today was Declan Rice who showed the world why the Three Lions courted him to switch allegiances from the Republic of Ireland.
The West Ham man, deployed in the centre of the 3-man midfield, held his fort and allowed Dele Alli and Ross Barkley to express themselves. The 20-year old was steady, mature, calm and composed in the midfield and broke up the play when needed.
It was the former Evertonian who stole the show despite some impressive performances from the other debut players. Ross Barkley started the day with an inch-perfect ball that saw Michael Keane equalizing for England.
The 25-year old then took centrestage as he precisely redirected Hudson-Odoi's shot into the net, scoring his first goal since 2015, and the second time the midfielder assisted and scored in the same match in his English career. A thumping finish in the 59th minute saw Ross Barkley scoring his second goal of the day before making his way for James Ward-Prowse in the 82nd minute, giving the Southampton man only his second appearance and the first since 2017.
#5 England hit 5 for the second time running
The Three Lions scored 5 goals as England topped their Euro 2020 Qualifying group A, 4 points above second-placed Bulgaria.
The Three Lions score 5 or more goals in consecutive matches for the first time since 1984, when they defeated Finland and Turkey in the FIFA World Cup Qualification match. The win also saw Gareth Southgate winning 5 successive matches for the first time as England manager, and the first time where the Three Lions have won 5 in a row since Roy Hodgson did it in 2015.
