Kane scores on debut England maintain grip at top of Group E

(MENAFN- Arab Times) LONDON March 28 (RTRS): England's Harry Kane scored on his debut less than two minutes after coming on as they brushed Lithuania aside 4-0 at Wembley on Friday to maintain their grip at the top of the Euro 2016 qualifying Group E standings. The Tottenham Hotspur striker who has scored 29 goals in all competitions this season headed England's fourth in the 73rd minute after replacing skipper Wayne Rooney as England won for the fifth successive match in the competition. Lithuania have won two and lost three of their five matches.

Rooney put England ahead in the sixth minute when he headed home his 47th international goal taking him to within two of Bobby Charlton's all-time record of 49.

Danny Welbeck scored the second just before halftime when the ball hit his shoulder and deflected in off Lithuania skipper Tadas Kijanskas before Raheem Sterling scored his first goal for England with a simple tap-in after 58 minutes.

One of the biggest cheers of the night though was heard when Kane was introduced from the bench and the applause was even louder when he scored with his third touch.

'It's the start that I dreamed of' Kane told ITV Sport. 'To see it come true is just amazing.

'It's all a bit of a blur at the moment but I'm delighted for the lads and the most important thing it to get the win.'

Rooney almost put England ahead in the fourth minute of the first senior international between the two countries when he hit the woodwork after running on to a through ball from Fabian Delph but he did find the net two minutes later.

He headed his eighth goal in his last nine internationals reacting quickly to a rebound from Lithuania keeper Giedrius Arlauskis but he was unlucky again in the 19th minute when his looping header struck the angle of bar and far post.

The hosts were dominant against the 94th-ranked team in the world whose defence was being run ragged by England's high tempo attacking game with Welbeck and Sterling continually switching wings and Michael Carrick creating opportunities from midfield.

England goalkeeper Joe Hart did not have a serious save to make in a match which was all but over when England went 2-0 ahead just before halftime when Welbeck doubled their lead.

Sterling scored his first England goal on his 14th appearance after a cross from Rooney before Kane's fairytale season continued when he scored with a far post firm header.

Although Arlauskis got his hands to the ball he could not stop it going over the line as England wrapped up a seventh straight win in all matches since their 2014 World Cup failure.

Sweden 2 Moldova 0

In Chisinau a bizarre headed goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic put Sweden on the road to a 2-0 victory over Moldova in their Euro 2016 Group G qualifier in Chisinau on Friday with the striker also netting a late penatly.

Sweden's captain gave his side the lead immediately after halftime when Moldova goalkeeper Ilie Cebanu's attempt to deal with a back pass failed to clear the frontman.

Ibrahimovic reacted with lightning reflexes to head the ball into an empty net from the edge of the penalty area to notch his 52nd goal in 102 international appearances.

Bottom of the group on a single point Moldova chose to defend deep for most of the game and created little their occasional forays forward on the counter-attack failing to trouble the Swedish rearguard.

Ibrahimovic almost doubled his tally in the 75th minute but his thunderous free kick found Cebanu in a less generous mood and he swatted the ball away to safety.

Cebanu continued to redeem himself performing a smart double-save to deny Sweden substitutes Marcus Berg and Emil Forsberg in the 81st minute.

But there was little he could do in the 84th minute when winger Forsberg was upended and Ibrahimovic smashed home the resulting penalty to secure the win for Sweden.

The gloss was taken off the victory somewhat for the Swedes when defender Andreas Granqvist was dismissed receiving his second yellow card deep into stoppage time.

With group leaders Austria winning 5-0 away to Liechtenstein the result means the Swedes stay in second place on nine points four behind the Austrians.