Harry Kane become England s outright record goalscorer as the Three Lions secured a first away win over Italy in almost 62 years with a 2-1 Euro 2024 qualifying victory.
In a repeat of a Euro 2020 final that was won by the Azzurri, Gareth Southgate s side gained a measure of revenge in their Group C opener at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on Thursday.
Declan Rice opened the scoring and Kane deservedly doubled England s lead with his 54th goal for his country from the penalty spot, breaking the record he shared with Wayne Rooney.
The Argentina-born Mateo Retegui reduced the deficit with a debut strike, but Italy suffered their first home loss to England since June 1961 and saw a run of 40 European Championship qualifying matches without defeat come to a halt in Naples despite Luke Shaw s red card in the 80th minute.
54 Harry Kane has the men s record for:
Goals scored (54)
Goals as captain (46)
Goals via penalties (18)
Goals in a single year (16 in 2021)
Goals in major tournaments (12)
Legend.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
There was a touching pre-match tribute to the late Gianluca Vialli before England quickly stamped their authority on the game, the alert Rice firing home left-footed from inside the box 13 minutes in after Kane s shot was blocked.
England were dominant and Kane made history to double their lead late in the first half, calmly sending Donnarumma the wrong way from the spot following a VAR check for a Giovanni Di Lorenzo handball.
Jack Grealish sliced wide when he ought to have added a third goal moments later at the end of another blistering Three Lions attack.
Italy looked like a different side after the break and Retegui controlled a clever reverse pass from Lorenzo Pellegrini before beating Jordan Pickford with a clinical right-foot finish 11 minutes into the second half.
Roberto Mancini s side continued to put England under pressure and Shaw was given his marching orders for upending Retegui just a couple of minutes after he had been booked for time-wasting.
Italy were unable to salvage a point, though, as England dug in to see out a hard-earned victory in a great start to their qualifying campaign.
