England hero makes emotional dedication as Southgate condemns 'obvious' errors
England goal hero Jadon Sancho dedicated his two goals in England 5-3 win over Kosovo to his late grandmother following his match-winning display at St Mary’s.
The Borussia Dortmund forward fired home his first goal for his country to put the Three Lions 4-1 up in Southampton before tapping home his second just two minutes later.
Despite going behind within a minute, fellow forwards Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling turned the game in England’s favour.
Sancho was also involved in England’s third goal as it was his cross that forced Mergim Vojvoda to put through his own goal.
Speaking to ITV after the match, Sancho spoke of his joy but also revealed that the moment would be filled with a sense of poignancy.
“It was a crazy game! I'm delighted to score my first goal for England,” He admitted. “It means a lot to me personally, especially for my family it is a special day.
“I dedicate the goals to my nan who was a big fan of me but has sadly passed away."
Valon Berisha had given the visitors the lead following a defensive mix-up, but England’s blistering first half attack meant that it wasn’t too costly.
“The opener was a bad mistake from us but we’ve got to learn from that and it was a great comeback,” Sancho added. “How we responded was really good”
Similarly, Kosovo, ranked 120 in the FIFA rankings, came out firing in the second half and hit England with two goals to narrow the deficit.
“Again, we started a bit slow and they caught us out. We’ve got pick up on that and learn from our mistakes.”
Manager Gareth Southgate admitted his side made ‘obvious‘ errors in allowing Kosovo into the game.
“A bizarre game really,” he told ITV. “There were obvious poor errors for goals but I'm really pleased with the composure we showed to come back from the early mistake.
“We have to be better. The players don't need me to tell them that. The outstanding parts of our play were obvious, the errors were obvious.”
Southgate did however reserve praise for Sancho and other members of his attack for their ruthless display in front of goal.
"We had devastating attacking play throughout, our forwards were a huge threat and we used the ball well.”
