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England must tighten up at the back by learning from "ridiculous mistakes" during their 5-3 Euro 2020 qualifying win over Kosovo on Tuesday, manager Gareth Southgate has said.
Soccer Football – Euro 2020 Qualifier – Group A – England v Kosovo – St Mary's Stadium, Southampton, Britain – September 10, 2019 Kosovo's Aro Muric shakes hands with England's Raheem Sterling after the match Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers
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REUTERS: England must tighten up at the back by learning from "ridiculous mistakes" during their 5-3 Euro 2020 qualifying win over Kosovo on Tuesday, manager Gareth Southgate has said.
Kosovo took the lead after 35 seconds following a mistake by defender Michael Keane and, although England responded with five goals in the first half, they endured a nervy finish to the game after conceding twice in the second half.
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Goals from Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane and a brace for Jadon Sancho highlighted England's attacking might but Southgate was less than pleased with his backline.
"It was bizarre. The outstanding features and poor features are apparent to everybody," Southgate told reporters.
"Poor individual mistakes, a poor start. I like the way we showed the composure to recover from that initial mistake and our use of the ball throughout the first half was excellent.
"The small period after half-time: ridiculous mistakes, poor decisions, lack of covering back. We made the game uncomfortable for ourselves. There were mistakes that were concerning … they were such basic errors … that you have to learn from."
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England lead
