England have won both of their Euro 2024 qualifiers so farEngland maintained their winning start to Euro 2024 qualifying with a comfortable victory over Ukraine at Wembley.
England struggled to build any momentum until record scorer Harry Kane made it 55 international goals when he bundled in Bukayo Saka's cross at the far post eight minutes before half-time.
The second arrived three minutes later and was all Saka's own work, the Arsenal winger turning away from his man on the edge of the area and curling a superb effort beyond the reach of Anatoliy Trubin and into the top corner.
Leicester City's James Maddison made a good impression on his first England start while Brentford's Ivan Toney won his first cap as a late substitute, captain Kane making way once there was never any serious danger of a Ukrainian comeback.
Saka a special talent
Saka is part of England's young generation that Southgate hopes will form a key component of their Euro 2024 campaign and the quest to finally claim a major trophy - and what a talent he is.
Saka has been outstanding as Arsenal lead the Premier League table and after a fine World Cup in Qatar he has simply carried on the form he has been showing all season.
He was a constant danger down England's right flank and the 21-year-old merely confirmed what he is showing on an almost weekly basis, namely that he has a golden future ahead of him.
Saka's cross unlocked a well-organised Ukraine defence for Kane to pounce and set England on their way before producing a superb piece of individual skill to effectively end the contest.
England's ideal start
Gareth Southgate's side has scored four goals and conceded just one in their two Euro 2024 games so farEngland manager Southgate could not have hoped for a better start to these qualifiers as two of arguably their more testing fixtures have resulted in maximum points.
And he will be happy with portions of England's performances in both games, particularly the first half against Italy in Naples and the manner in which they closed this game out with the minimum of fuss.
England are the favourites to qualify at the top of their group and secure a place at the Euros in Germany, where they will be among those touted as potential winners, and these opening two games have certainly justified that status.
They survived a poor second half in Italy and a drab first half-hour here but the end results certainly count as a job well done.
Player of the match
SakaBukayo Saka
Ukraine
Squad number17Player nameZinchenko
Squad number16Player nameMykolenko
Squad number10Player nameKonoplyanka
Squad number15Player nameTsygankov
Squad number8Player nameMalinovskyi
Squad number2Player nameSobol
Squad number20Player nameSudakov
Squad number11Player nameDovbyk
Squad number14Player nameBuyalskyi
Squad number6Player nameStepanenko
Squad number12Player nameTrubin
Squad number7Player nameMudryk
Squad number3Player nameSvatok
Squad number9Player nameYaremchuk
Squad number21Player nameKaravaev
Squad number22Player nameMatvienko
Line-ups
England
Formation 4-3-3
1Pickford
2Walker5Stones6Maguire3Chilwell
8Henderson4Rice10Bellingham
7Saka9Kane11Maddison
1Pickford2Walker5Stones6Maguire3Chilwell8Henderson4Rice10BellinghamSubstituted forGallagherat 86'minutes7Saka9KaneSubstituted forToneyat 81'minutes11MaddisonSubstituted forGrealishat 86'minutesSubstitutes
12Trippier13Ramsdale14Guéhi15Dier16Grealish17Phillips18Gallagher19Toney22ForsterUkraine
Formation 4-2-3-1
12Trubin
21Karavaev3Svatok22Matvienko16Mykolenko
6Stepanenko17Zinchenko
8Malinovskyi20Sudakov7Mudryk
9Yaremchuk
12Trubin21KaravaevSubstituted forBuyalskyiat 61'minutes3Svatok22Matvienko16MykolenkoSubstituted forSobolat 62'minutes6StepanenkoSubstituted forKonoplyankaat 90'minutes17Zinchenko8MalinovskyiBooked at 69mins20Sudakov7MudrykSubstituted forTsygankovat 61'minutes9YaremchukSubstituted forDovbykat 74'minutesSubstitutes
1Lunin2Sobol4Sarapyi5Sydorchuk10Konoplyanka11Dovbyk13Miroshnichenko14Buyalskyi15Tsygankov18Bondarenko19Pikhalyonok23ShevchenkoReferee:Serdar GözübüyükLive Text
Match ends, England 2, Ukraine 0.
Second Half ends, England 2, Ukraine 0.
Foul by Jordan Henderson (England).
Heorhii Sudakov (Ukraine) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Conor Gallagher (England) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Eduard Sobol (Ukraine).
Foul by Jordan Henderson (England).
Yevhen Konoplyanka (Ukraine) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Corner, England. Conceded by Yevhen Konoplyanka.
Attempt saved. Jack Grealish (England) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Conor Gallagher.
Attempt missed. Harry Maguire (England) header from the left side of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Jordan Henderson with a cross following a corner.
Substitution, Ukraine. Yevhen Konoplyanka replaces Taras Stepanenko.
Corner, England. Conceded by Eduard Sobol.
Attempt saved. Harry Maguire (England) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Ben Chilwell with a cross.
Corner, England. Conceded by Taras Stepanenko.
Attempt saved. Conor Gallagher (England) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Ben Chilwell.
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Substitution, England. Conor Gallagher replaces Jude Bellingham.
Substitution, England. Jack Grealish replaces James Maddison.
Delay in match because of an injury Taras Stepanenko (Ukraine).
