Kane nets hat-trick as England romp past Bulgaria

LONDON (Reuters): England’s serene progress towards Euro 2020 continued as skipper Harry Kane grabbed a hat-trick in a 4-0 demolition of Bulgaria in Group A at Wembley on Saturday.

England's Harry Kane scores his side's fourth goal during the UEFA EURO 2020 qualifiers Group A soccer match between England and Bulgaria, at the Wembley Stadium on Sept 7, 2019

Kane opened the scoring after 24 minutes and struck home two penalties after the break as well as providing the assist for Raheem Sterling to get on the score sheet.

Gareth Southgate’s side have now scored 14 goals in their opening three Group A games and lead the table with nine points from Kosovo (eight) who beat the Czech Republic 2-1 earlier on.

England host Kosovo for the first time tomorrow when another victory will leave them looking virtually assured of reaching next year’s tournament that culminates on home soil.

It was not a perfect display by England with Bulgaria having three good chances, one when the score was 0-0, but England proved far too strong as they left the visitors languishing at the bottom of the group with two points from five games.

Kane’s second hat-trick for England, following the one he scored against Panama at last year’s World Cup finals, took his tally to 25 goals in 40 appearances – eight of which have arrived from the penalty spot.