Tottenham Hotspur’s England duo Harry Kane and Dele Alli continued their fine form in the Premier League, striking within three minutes of each other to guide the north London side to victory at Southampton.
England’s Ryan Bertrand did start for Southampton while Under-21s skipper James Ward-Prowse was named on the bench, but there was nothing either could do to stop Kane and Alli who both fired in goals before the break.
England v Netherlands
International match
8pm Wembley Stadium connected by EE
Tuesday 26 March 2016
TheFA.com/tickets
First Kane went clear after Alli’s 40th-minute through ball, and despite being slightly fortunate to escape the challenges of a couple of Southampton defenders, there was nothing lucky about the finish as the hitman swept his right-footed effort into the bottom corner.
Then just three minutes later Kyle Walker’s cross was turned in by Alli at the back post, and Tottenham expertly saw out the result to win 2-0.
Meanwhile Jamie Vardy was on fire once more for Leicester, as despite not getting himself on the scoresheet, his two assists proved decisive for the Premier League leaders away at Everton.
John Stones, Leighton Baines and Ross Barkley all started for the Toffees but it was Vardy who was at the heart of Leicester’s second and third goals and stole the headlines.
With the scores level at 1-1 in the second half, Riyad Mahrez sent Vardy through who expertly rounded Tim Howard before the American brought down the England striker, and Mahrez stepped up to put the Foxes ahead.
FATV England Advent Calendar: 19 December
And Vardy was once more in the thick of the action as he teed up Shinji Okazaki to send Leicester top of the Premier League at Christmas despite Kevin Mirallas’ late consolation – although he did hobble off late on with an injury.
England captain Wayne Rooney made his 500th appearance for Manchester United in their 2-1 loss at home to Norwich, and had the ball in the net early on only to see his effort chalked off for offside.
Ashley Young, Phil Jones and Michael Carrick all joined their international skipper on the pitch at Old Trafford, and Rooney did provide the assist for Anthony Martial to get the hosts back in the match after Cameron Jerome and Alexander Tettey had given Norwich a surprise lead.
Nathan Redmond had assisted Jerome for his strike, but his England Under-21s team-mate Duncan Watmore did not have the same luck as his Sunderland side went down 3-1 at Chelsea.
Jack Butland’s Stoke salvaged a 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace, with the England stopper making a string of second-half saves, but Rickie Lambert could not save West Brom off the bench from a 2-1 defeat against Bournemouth.
England take on the Netherlands at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday 29 March and you can be there. Simply click TheFA.com/tickets to get your seats
