Euro 2020 qualifiers: England beat Bulgaria in game plagued by racism

England beat Bulgaria 6-0 at the Stadion Vasil Levski, Sofia on October 15, 2019, in a game plagued with racist chants creating a hostile environment for the English players. The win keeps England at the top of the Group Group A with 15 points, 3 ahead of 2nd placed the Czech Republic. The result pretty much secures England's qualification to the Euro 2020. Here is the match report from the game.

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Team News

Gareth Southgate reacted well after a shock defeat against the Czech saw England struggled for creativity. He made four changes to his side that lost in Prague. Tyrone Mings, Ross Barkley, Marcus Rashford and Harry Winks came into the side with Mings making his England debut after a great start to the season with Aston Villa.

Bulgaria, on the other hand, made seven changes to their side following their draw against Montenegro. Coach Krasimir Balakov chose an attacking line-up with striker Ismail Isa and attacking midfielder Georgi Kostadinov coming in among the other changes Though Bulgaria, who lie in the 5th place have no hopes qualifying, an attacking change by the coach showed promise.

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Match analysis

The game began with an expected England, dominating the game on and off the ball. Rashford opened the scoring for the away side in the 4th minute with a wonderful strike into the top corner after a neat cut-back from the left. Ross Barkley soon added another goal in the 20th minute which resulted from a fine one-two between Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling. Barkley soon made it 3-0 before Sterling added to his tally making the score 4-0 in the first half itself. Kane did well in both the goals as he dropped deep to feed the runners. A good half of football, however, was plagued by racist chants by the fans directed towards English players, which saw the game being halted twice and a few being evicted in the process. The second half saw England continue their dominance and managing to score another two with Sterling and Kane finding the net in the 69th and 85th minute respectively. The half could have seen more goals for England as some narrow misses by the English aided Bulgaria's ailing defence. The game ended at 6-0 in England's favour.

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Best performer

The entire English line-up would get a well-deserved mention for being the best side by a mile. The English attack looked very potent with Rashford, Kane and Sterling combining to great effect. Barkley too wth his late runs in the box, deserves a mention. Debutant Mings had a memorable game in defence. The best though has to be the England captain Kane who led his side well and dropped deep to combine with the midfield, assisting three and scoring once in the process. 

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