Five-star England sweep Montenegro aside

Callum Hudson-Odoi and Declan Rice were handed their first starts for their country, and both impressed in the victory. Ross Barkley and Danny Rose were the other newcomers to the starting XI, which once again took on a 4-3-3 formation. 

England controlled the early stages without ever threatening the home goal but were stunned on 17 minutes when Montenegro took a shock lead. Striker Fatos Beqiraj, who proved to be a thorn in the visitors' sides during the whole match, did well to hold off Michael Keane and nod down to Markov Vesovic, who curled the ball beautifully past Jordan Pickford into the far corner of the net.

But England didn't take long to recover, and on the half-hour mark Keane brought them level, out-jumping former Manchester City defender Stefan Savic to head in from a Barkley free-kick. All square, and both sides enjoyed good chances before Barkley put England ahead just before the break. Callum Hudson-Odoi beat two defenders before unleashing a fierce drive at goal, with Barkley diverting the shot into the net from close range.

Hudson-Odoi continued to threaten down the left and pulled off another impressive shot at goal shortly after half-time. Montenegro then enjoyed their best spell of the game, but were punished for not taking advantage as Barkley struck to make it 3-1. Raheem Sterling, still on song after his hat-trick against the Czech Republic on Friday, jinked down the right before cutting back to the Everton man who tucked away with aplomb.

Dele Alli's fitness was protected as he made way for Jordan Henderson, and on 72 minutes England grabbed a fourth, Sterling again darting down the right before squaring for Kane. The Tottenham striker rarely misses from six yards and was on hand to slide the ball into the net for his 17th goal under Gareth Southgate.

Sterling added a goal to his two assists with 10 minutes to play. Slipped in by a lovely Henderson through ball, the winger made no mistake with the finish, coolly rolling in England's fifth and his fourth goal in four days. 

James Ward-Prowse was handed his international debut as the final whistle drew near, and England strolled to the victory in the end. They have two wins and 10 goals from their opening two Euro 2020 qualifiers, and have begun 2019 as strongly as they spent 2018.