After a tentative first-half, England finally opened Hungary up and ended the game fully in command in a job well done.  It certainly took a while for this game to come to life, with chances few and far between in the opening spell.  Indeed nothing much happened in the opening half-hour, save a couple of half-chances that came England's way.  They had most of the possession, but too often the ball went from side to side or backwards, and there were few forward passes to test the Hungarian defence.

On five minutes Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling gave Mason Mount a chance, but he fired over the bar.  Two minutes later, a clever run by Sterling led to a corner which Harry Maguire headed over.  The next moment of stifled drama came on the quarter-hour when Kane's ball into the middle was scrambled away by a defender.  Neither goalkeeper had been tested so far but on 20 minutes England fashioned their best chance to date.  Jack Grealish and Mount combined to set up Kane.  His shot flew over and he was annoyed with himself for missing the target with his effort.

England were stretching Hungary with their possession and hard work, and when they did lose the ball, the super work of Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips and Mount quickly won it back again.  The home side tried to go long, but John Stones and Maguire are forming a great partnership together, and they rarely looking anything but solid.  A break in play gave both teams a chance to talk to their managers, and on the restart Bendeguz Bolla broke away, only for the pass to be too long and easily gathered by Jordan Pickford.  Hungary always knew the threat from Sterling, surrounding the Manchester City player every time he gained possession.  But all this chasing after the ball was beginning to have an affect on the home players as they started to tire.

A rare chance came for the Hungarians when Rice was penalized and a free-kick was given on the edge of England's penalty area.  This was wasted though as Dominik Szoboszlai blasted the kick high over the bar.

And that was the story of the first-half, with England dominating possession, but not finding any killer passes forward.  In the end neither side had anything to show for their efforts.

Talk about a game of two halves!  Straight after the interval you could see that England were going to be more positive in their approach.  An early free-kick was wasted but on 50 minutes Kyle Walker threaded a beautiful pass through for Kane, it seemed odds on for a score.  Peter Galacsi, in the home goal, managed to block Kane's shot, when really, he should have had no chance.  But that excellent move was the shape of things to come for England.  Five minutes later, after he had just been harshly booked, Rice won the ball and passed to Grealish.  Mount overlapped, Grealish found him and when Mount's cross came in, there was Sterling to side-foot the ball into the net for a super goal.

The only downside to that goal was the adverse reaction of the crowd, who bombarded the England players with missiles and also, more disappointingly, racial abuse.  Sterling had taken off his shirt to reveal a poignant message of sympathy for a friend who had recently passed away, and was booked as a result.  But that had no bearing on the despicable behaviour of the crowd.

England were now full of attacking ideas as they spotted the flagging in the Hungary team.  Another good ball, from Kane to Sterling almost brought a second goal, but on 65 minutes that match-clinching goal duly arrived.  Phillips intercepted a clearance and passed to Mount who flicked it on to Sterling.  The winger's cross took a deflection and looped up nicely for the inrushing Kane to power home a close range header.  Two minutes later Kane was there again, but this time Galacsi stuck out a foot to save Kane's shot.  Two more minutes then elapsed before England scored a third goal.

Luke Shaw's corner was headed powerfully at goal by Maguire and the goalkeeper failed to keep the ball out of his net.  The RP Leipzig goalkeeper would not want to see the replays of the goal as he should have saved it.  After a couple of substitutes for the home side, a loose clearance by Pickford, coupled with shoddy defending by England gave one of those subs, Daniel Salloi, a rare home effort on goal, but he shot wildly over.

It was all action by now with England going close again through Sterling, who looked offside from Shaw's through ball, but failed when he tried to round the keeper, before Galasi saved.  On 78 minutes Shaw again was the provider as Kane, who should have had a hat-trick in this match, ran onto another through ball.  You would have bet your house on the England skipper scoring, but once again he allowed Galacsi the chance to save.

Pickford then had to make his only save, blocking a fierce angled shot, before more substitutes appeared, one for each side, with Jessie Lingard coming on for the impressive Mount.  With three minutes left on the clock, England added a fourth goal to really hammer home their dominance.  Good approach play down the right ended with Grealish laying a pass into the path of Rice, who capped a fine game with a low shot that went in under the goalkeeper's body.  Again, Galacsi will not be too pleased with his part in the goal.  Jordan Henderson and Bukayo Saka came on as late replacements for Rice and Grealish, but the job was done and England can be very pleased with their performance, especially in the second-half.
  

Source Notes