England 4-0 Lithuania: Harry Kane scores 79 seconds after coming on as Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck and Raheem Sterling seal rout

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Rooney opened the scoring in the sixth minute after reacting first to a rebound to score his 47th international goal
Welbeck's deflected header doubled the lead just before the break to put the hosts in total control
Raheem Sterling converted Rooney's cross from inside the six yard box after 58 minutes
Kane was handed his first England cap, coming on for Rooney in the 71st minute
And he duly nodded home Sterling's cross 79 seconds after coming on to continue his fairytale season
View all the stats and facts from our Match Zone

Published: 16:35 EST, 27 March 2015 | Updated: 18:57 EST, 27 March 2015

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Really, the only surprise was that it took him three touches. Harry Kane had already chested one down in midfield and rolled a pass to fellow substitute Ross Barkley. But his third touch? Well, that was headed into the net. That’s more like it, Harry.

So much for the cries for patience. Here was goal No 30 of the season for a young man who simply cannot stop scoring. Twenty nine for his club and now one for his country at senior level.

Raheem Sterling clipped an inviting ball up to the back post, where Kane’s instinct had taken him. There was just a thin slice of goal to aim for, but he was never missing. Giedrius Arlauskis, unaware of the script, attempted to recover, flinging himself across his goal-line but Lithuania’s goalkeeper could only help it into the net.

Harry Kane celebrates his first England goal after the white hot striker drifted in at the far post and nodded in Raheem Sterling's cross

A jubilant Kane laps up the applause from gleeful England fans as he celebrates his first England cap with a goal

Kane connects with the looping ball to nod past keeper Giedrius Arlauskis as his fairytale season continues apace

Kane shares a brief moment with an official before darting to the touchline to celebrate with team-mates and rapturous England fans

A gleeful Kane sprints to the touchline after his goal gave England a four-goal cushion in front of a packed house at Wembley

Wayne Rooney nods past Arlauskis after the Lithuanian keeper parried Danny Welbeck's shot into his path to break the deadlock early on

Rooney caught the Lithuanian defence flat-footed and scored his 47th international goal to leave him two behind record-holder Bobby Charlton

Rooney had hit the post moments earlier but made no mistake, nodding home from just outside the six yard box with the goal gaping

Rooney celebrates his goal in front of a packed Wembley as England continued their 100 per cent record in their qualifying group

Rooney celebrates as Welbeck (floored) connected with Jordan Henderson's cross before it deflected off a defender and into the net

Welbeck's goal was a timely tonic and gave England the perfect boost before heading into the dressing room at half-time

Rooney and Welbeck embrace after the latter's goal gave England breathing space just before the break

Raheem Sterling scored his first goal in an England shirt after the Liverpool man latched on to Rooney's cross inside the six yard box

Sterling gave Lithuania keeper Arlauskis no chance as he tapped in from point blank range to give England a three-goal advantage

MATCH FACTS

ENGLAND (4-3-3): Hart 7, Clyne 5.5, Cahill 6, Jones 6, Baines 5.5, Henderson 7 (Barkley 71, 7), Carrick 7.5, Delph 7.5, Sterling 8, Welbeck 8.5 (Walcott 76), Rooney 8 (Kane 71, 8). Subs not used: Butland, Smalling, Jagielka, Milner, Townsend, Mason, Gibbs, Walker, Green.

Goals: Rooney 6, Welbeck 45, Sterling 58, Kane 73

Booked: Sterling

Manager: Roy Hodgson 7

LITHUANIA (4-4-1-1): Arlauskis 7; Freidgeimas 5, Zaliukas 6, Kijanskas 5, Andriuskevicius 7.5 (Slavickas 83); Chvedukas 6, Zulpa 6.5, Mikuckis 6 (Stankevicius 66, 6), Mikoliunas 6.5 (Kazlauskas 88); Cernych 6; Matulevicius 7. Subs not used: Zubas, Vicius, Vaitkunas, Sirgedas, Luksa, Beniusis, Panka, Borovskij, Cerniauskas.

Booked: Zaliukas, Kazlauskas

Referee: Pavel Kralovec (Czech Republic) 6

Attendance: 83,671

Ratings by Rob Draper

Somehow, it all seemed preordained, as if you could have tied up Kane’s bootlaces, blindfolded him, sat him on a chair in the centre of the penalty area and he would still have scored somehow.

The 21-year-old Tottenham striker, who has been on fire in the Barclays Premier League, was off and running in international football 79 seconds after replacing Wayne Rooney.

Who needs time to adjust? This was the third-fastest goal by an England debutant and the quickest since Bill Nicholson in 1951.

Quite understandably, Kane could barely control his delight, pushing the referee aside as he sprinted into to a jubilant knee-slide by the corner flag while the Wembley crowd leapt to hail their newest hero.

All this was quite surreal. No wonder he described it as ‘just a blur’.

The fourth goal of an easy win against a team ranked 94th in the world in the midst of a humdrum campaign has no right to command such excitement but it is impossible not to be swept along by this incredible story.

Until then it had all been about Rooney’s steady pursuit of Sir Bobby Charlton’s England goal record and Danny Welbeck’s wonderful display of attacking verve, which rightly earned him the man-of-the-match vote.

Rooney needed less than six minutes to score the opener and might have had more on a night when he hit the woodwork twice in the first half. England’s second was probably an own goal but was claimed by Welbeck, who deserved it in a way for a display which justified Hodgson’s decision to select him and leave Kane on the bench for three-quarters of the game.

Sterling converted the third — his first international goal — timing his run to perfection and tucking away Rooney’s cross from the right.

It meant England had secured their fifth successive win in Group E long before Kane came on to thrill Wembley.

Hodgson will reflect on the game with satisfaction. His team are six points clear with one foot already across the Channel at Euro 2016, and promising young players like Kane are forcing their way into contention.

Euro 2016 qualifier Big Match Stats: England 4-0 Lithuania

Kane comes on for Rooney for his first England cap and the Spurs striker made a dramatic introduction to international football

Sterling wheels away after giving England a three-goal cushion on a comfortable night for the runaway Group E leaders

Rooney is all smiles after Welbeck made it 2-0 just before the half-time whistle

Kane and Gary Cahill greet each other following the final whistle with England maintaining a six-point cushion at the top of Group E

The manager will also have been content with his team’s balance and shape, which flexed from a 4-1-4-1 into a classic 4-3-3 when England had the ball.

Michael Carrick sat in front of the centre halves and supplied a trio of mobile strikers, while Jordan Henderson and Fabian Delph covered the midfield miles.

It will be different in a tougher game when Carrick is expected to shield his back four, but here is the perennial problem.

England need one method to qualify — breaking down teams who surrender possession and offer no ambition — and an entirely different one when they reach the finals and come up against more clinical and potent opposition.

Lithuania started nervously at Wembley and Hodgson’s team were smart enough to take advantage. Rooney hit the inside of a post having been released by Delph, before scoring his 47th England goal with a simple header after Arlauskis had pushed a fine effort from Welbeck into the air.

England’s captain hit the other post midway through the first half. Again, Welbeck created it, this time by driving to the by-line and picking out Rooney at the far post. His header was firmly sent back from whence it came, as in the textbooks, and Wembley held its breath as it looped through the air and hit the frame of the goal.

Roy Hodgson: Delighted for Harry Kane scoring on England debut

Fabian Delph was denied a first goal in an England shirt as his crisp volley was repelled by an excellent reflex save from Arlauskis

Roy Hodgson will be a very happy man after another convincing win with four different scorers and another clean sheet

Sterling and Vytautas Andriuskevicius collided in what looked like a 50/50 challenge and the England man was unfortunate to be booked

Nathaniel Clyne clears the ball upfield despite pressure from Saulius Mikoliunas as England launch another attack

As England began to wonder if they would extend their lead, they enjoyed a little luck by way of a scruffy second. Henderson worked a short corner with Leighton Baines and delivered an inswinging cross towards Welbeck, who stooped and skewed a glancing header off his shoulder which was deflected into the net from the right thigh of Lithuania captain Tadas Kijanskas.

It was swiftly declared as Welbeck’s goal, and the Arsenal striker seemed happy to claim it. Arlauskis reacted well to keep out Delph’s volley after the break and Welbeck deserved a penalty as England dominated.

Sterling, who grew into the game and was far more influential as Lithuania tired, celebrated his first international goal by tucking in a cross from Rooney via the near post.

And then Kane appeared to a raucous reception. This crowd believed the hype.

They had cheered through his warm-up routine and they demanded a goal as he sprinted on. No sweat. He promptly delivered. It wasn’t an easy finish. But it was never really in doubt, was it?

On the bench, Rooney stood to applaud and like everyone else present, he could not help but smile and shake his head.

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