London, March 23 (IANS) Raheem Sterling scored a hat-trick as England thrashed Czech Republic 5-0 in their opening match of the 2020 European championship qualifying campaign at Wembley here.
England dominated the match on Friday and pulled ahead in the 24th minute, when Sterling positioned perfectly at the far post to tap-in from a low cross from former Manchester City team-mate Jadon Sancho, reports Xinhua news agency.
The City forward then earned a penalty just before the interval and captain Harry Kane made no mistake from the spot.
Sterling made it 3-0 in the 62nd minute when the ball deflected off a Czech player and fell into his path then he held off his marker Ondrej Celustka, turning smartly and bending into the left corner.
He completed the hat-trick only six minutes later when he cut into the middle and shot from 25 yards with an effort which deflects off Celustka and beat the goalkeeper. He became the first England player to score a hat-trick at Wembley since Jermain Defoe in 2010.
Tomas Kalas' own goal in the 84th minute made it 5-0 and also ended their miserable night.
--IANS
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