Ukraine 0-4 England: Kane strikes twice as England cut loose

Wembley beckons for Gareth Southgate's side after a devastating spell at the start of the second half in Rome earned England their most emphatic win at a EURO, and ended Ukraine's hopes of reaching the UEFA EURO 2020 semi-finals.

Match in brief

Having brought in Jadon Sancho and Mason Mount, England set out to dominate possession and were in front inside five minutes, the ever-slippery Raheem Sterling cutting inside from the left to slide the ball through to Harry Kane, who eluded his marker and stretched out a leg to beat Georgiy Bushchan.

The Three Lions looked to patiently pick off Ukraine thereafter; Kane headed over from a Luke Shaw cross, and Declan Rice thumped a powerful shot at Bushchan from distance. An injury to defender Serhiy Kryvtsov forced Ukraine to switch to a more aggressive formation on 35 minutes, but any extra threat evaporated following a scorching period of England play after the interval.

Shaw's free-kick teed up Harry Maguire to head in a second just past the restart, and Ukraine had no time to regain their composure before Kane made it 3-0, Shaw's sweet ball in from the left inviting the No9 to head down through Bushchan's legs and into the net. Bushchan produced a terrific save to deny a Kane volley soon after the hour-mark, but the goalkeeper's suffering continued as substitute Jordan Henderson connected with a Mason Mount corner to make it 4-0: his first England goal in 62 appearances.

Ukraine could not respond, and a run of tactical substitutions towards the end of the game allowed Southgate to give key players a chance to rest their legs ahead of Wednesday's semi-final against Denmark.

Star of the Match: Harry Kane (England)

"Kane was taken off once the result was certain; he scored twice and was consistent with all of his efforts, including an amazing second-half shot which was well saved by the goalkeeper. He is gaining in confidence, and taking the whole England squad with him."
Jean-François Domergue, UEFA Technical Observer

Check out every Heineken Star of the Match at UEFA EURO 2020.

Bogdan Buga, Ukraine reporter

Of course, it would have been nicer to go out on a less dispiriting note, but Ukraine still bow out with good reason to be proud of how far they have come. They were second best tonight, but all of them played with heart, and there is no denying their desire, 100% commitment and courage. Andriy Shevchenko's players have won plaudits not only from their supporters but also from many neutral fans.

Harry Maguire celebrates doubling England's leadGetty Images

Simon Hart‏, England reporter

First a win against Germany, and now this: England's biggest victory at any EURO. Solid in the group stage, Southgate's men are developing an irresistible momentum. With five clean sheets at one end and now Kane's mojo recovered at the other, they will return to Wembley rightly full of belief. Shaw, whose left foot set up two of the goals, highlighted his growing worth, but it was a brilliant collective effort that secured England's first back-to-back semi-finals since 1968.

Reaction

Gareth Southgate, England manager: "We didn’t want to take a backward step. We wanted to really grasp the opportunity rather than hope we might win or let fate have a chance to play its part. I thought the players were decisive and ruthless all night."

Harry Kane, England forward: "It's about peaking at the right time. A fantastic night; we keep going game after game. We were favourites to win this game – a lot of pressure and expectation – and to perform as we did was top-drawer. Another clean sheet and four goals: it was a perfect night for us."

Harry Maguire, England defender: "It's a great feeling – back-to-back semi-finals at a major tournament is a great achievement. I don't want to be a party pooper but we don't stop here. We've got another big game coming up and we want to go further this time."

Andriy Shevchenko, Ukraine coach: "We've had a great tournament. The team had their own style; they refused to abandon their way of playing, irrespective of the results and opposition. From that point of view, the team have played good football. The guys did everything they could, and I want to thank them for that today."

Andriy Yarmolenko, Ukraine forward: "We are a great team with a great group of people. Nothing can break us. We know what helps us with our game, and we know how we can play. Despite the result, despite losing 4-0 today, I am proud to be part of this team. Yes, today we lost, but we should look at who we have lost to. In my opinion, we have lost to one of the best teams in the world."

Illia Zabarnyi, Ukraine defender: "I think our team deserved a better result. We have been working really hard. We kept going until the end. All I can say is that I am proud of my team and I am proud of my country. We managed to get to this stage and could have gone even further. But what happened, happened."

Jordan Henderson reacts to scoring his first England goalGetty Images

Key stats

• This was England's most emphatic win at a EURO: their previous biggest wins were 4-1 vs the Netherlands at EURO '96 and 3-0 vs Switzerland at EURO 2004.
• This was the first time England have scored four goals in a knockout stage match of a major tournament since the 4-2 win against West Germany in the final of the 1966 FIFA World Cup.
• This is the third time England have scored four goals in a EURO final tournament game (4-1 win vs Netherlands in 1996 and 4-2 win vs Croatia in 2004).
• England have yet to concede a goal at EURO 2020. They had never previously started a major international final tournament with five successive clean sheets, their four to kick off the 1966 World Cup their best until now.
• Harry Kane's last 24 goals for England have all been in competitive matches.
• Kane is the first player to score twice for England in a EURO knockout match, and first England player to score twice in a EURO final tournament match since Wayne Rooney, against Croatia in 2004.
• England have scored within the opening five minutes in four of their last six EURO final tournament knockout phase matches.
• England have become the first team to keep five consecutive clean sheets from the start of a EURO final tournament; Spain did record five clean sheets in 2012 but only from their second match onwards.
• Maguire scored his fourth goal for England and his second in a major tournament after his effort against Sweden at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
• Jordan Henderson's first England goal came on his 62nd appearance for his country.
• Jude Bellingham has become the youngest player to feature appear in a EURO knockout fixture at 18 years and four days old.
• Ukraine have only failed to score in two of their last 11 international matches; they are yet to keep a clean sheet in 11 EURO final tournament matches.
• This was England’s fourth EURO final tournament quarter-final tie. Each of the previous three finished level and required a penalty shoot-out to decide the outcome (1996 W vs Spain, 2004 L vs Portugal, 2012 L vs Italy).
• Excluding penalty shoot-outs, England have lost only one of their last 16 EURO final tournament matches (W9 D6 L1); they have won ten and drawn one of their last 11 international matches.

Line-ups

Ukraine: Bushchan; Zabarnyi, Kryvtsov (Tsygankov 35), Matviyenko; Karavaev, Sydorchuk (Makarenko 64), Shaparenko, Zinchenko, Mykolenko; Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk

England: Pickford; Walker, Maguire, Stones, Shaw (Trippier 65); Rice (Henderson 57), Phillips (Bellingham 65), Mount; Sancho, Kane (Calvert-Lewin 73), Sterling (Rashford 65)