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Football

24th Jun 2018

This is not a drill, England are 5-0 up at half-time

England were dominant throughout

Reuben Pinder

We repeat, 5-0

Well that was fun, wasn’t it? England got off to a flying start in their second group game against Panama, as John Stones got them off the mark in the 8th minute with a header from a corner, which is becoming something of a pattern for England at this tournament.

A penalty from Harry Kane doubled England’s lead, before Jesse Lingard got in on the act with a curling strike from outside the box. England were dominant throughout, breaking through Panama’s defence with ease.

A well worked set piece routine that ended with John Stones heading in to an open net made it four before another penalty from Kane made it five.

Panama struggled with the pace of England’s passing and runs in behind from Lingard and Loftus-Cheek, who stepped in for the injured Dele Alli.

Rumours before the game indicated that Marcus Rashford would start ahead of Raheem Sterling, who wasn’t at his best against Tunisia, but the Man City forward kept his place and hardly put a foot wrong in the first half.

Harry Kane is now on four goals for the tournament, putting himself level with Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku in the race for the golden boot.