England rally past Montenegro with Ross Barkley double

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:24 am

England made it two wins from two tries in 2020 Euro qualifiers, coming back from a goal down to beat Montenegro 5-1 on Monday night.

Gareth Southgate's side was fresh off a 5-0 dismantling of Czech Republic at Wembley Stadium on Friday night and, as promised, the England boss gave youth a chance in his XI, handing starts to teenagers Declan Rice and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Despite England dominating possession in the opening minutes, Montenegro took a shock lead in the 17th when the ball took a fortuitous bounce for the hosts and Marko Vesovic pounced in the area and curled a clinical shot around Jordan Pickford to make it 1-0.

The goal marked the first time in five meetings that England ever trailed Montenegro, but the visitors would draw level shortly after when Michael Keane rose above the defence and powered a header in at the back post.

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Hudson-Odoi, a menace to Montenegro throughout the first half, helped set up England's second before half-time, cutting in from the left flank and firing a shot on goal that Ross Barkley redirected past Danijel Petkovíc for a 2-1 lead at the break.

Barkley scored his second and England's third on 60 minutes, running onto a ball 10 yards from goal after a mazy Raheem Sterling run and cutback pass from the endline left him all alone for a straightforward finish.

Sterling then set up Harry Kane for the next England goal, outrunning the Montenegro defence and squaring to the Tottenham striker to tap home before adding a goal of his own with a tidy finish from a Jordan Henderson through ball.

The end of the match saw tempers flare between the two sides and Southgate said after the match he had heard racist chants aimed at Danny Rose after he was cautioned for a hard challenge near full-time. The England boss said the incident was "unacceptable" and would be reported to UEFA.

Following the match, Sterling, who celebrated in front of the Montenegro supporters after scoring, posted on Twitter: "Best way to stop the haters [and yeah I mean racists]."

England's next international matches come at the start of June when they join Switzerland, Netherlands and hosts Portugal for the inaugural UEFA Nations League final.