England manager Gareth Southgate lauded in his team's ruthlessness after a 7-0 thrashing of Montenegro secured qualification for Euro 2020 in what was the Three Lions' 1,000th match. England were without Raheem Sterling, who <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/sport/football/raheem-sterling-suspended-by-england-after-canteen-clash-with-liverpool-rival-joe-gomez-1.936373">was dropped</a> by Southgate after his altercation with teammate Joe Gomez, but they had more than enough firepower to sail into next year's European Championship. Harry Kane moved into sixth in the all-time list of England goalscorers – 31 goals – with a first half hat-trick. He thus took his tally in the qualifying campaign to 11 from seven games. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Marcus Rashford and Tammy Abraham scored while Aleksandar Sofranac's own goal saw Southgate's team secure top spot in group A with a record 33 goals in seven games. "In the past we have maybe struggled against lower ranked teams who defend in numbers, but we have players who can open those teams up and a style of play that can do that," said Southgate. "We have qualified and done it clinically. "The quality of our attacking play was excellent," added Southgate. "We expected to win the group but we've totally taken teams apart." However, it was not all smooth sailing as Gomez was booed by some of the 77,000 in attendance when he entered as a late substitute. "It was hard for me to see my teammate get booed for something that was my fault," Sterling tweeted. "Joe hasn't done anything wrong and for me to see someone who keeps his head down and works hard, especially after a difficult week for him, to be booed when he came on tonight was wrong."
