Lithuania 0, England 3
Ross Barkley, Giedrius Arlauskis (og), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain goals for England
England finish Euro 2016 campaign with perfect record
Senior debut for Liverpool’s Danny Ings
Lithuania coach Igoris Pankratjevas dramatically quits after the game
England’s tenth and final Euro 2016 qualifying game, against Lithuania on an artificial surface in Vilnius, proved to be no problem as a first half Ross Barkley strike was added to by a Giedrius Arlauskis own goal to effectively end the game as a contest.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain made sure of victory in the second half with England’s third goal while Liverpool’s Danny Ings made his senior national team debut for Harry Kane.
England joined France (1992), Czech Republic (2000), France (2004) plus Germany and Spain (2012) as the only teams to have qualified for the European Championship finals with a perfect record in their group.
Only Barkley, Adam Lallana, and Harry Kane retained their place from the England side that beat Estonia 2-0 at Wembley as various first choice players, including injured captain Wayne Rooney, were rested.
Veteran defender Phil Jagielka became the first Everton player to captain England having led the team out from the start.
His Everton team mate Ross Barkley put England into the lead on 29 minutes, his shot from the edge of the area taking a deflection and going in off the post.
Harry Kane’s strike six minutes later also hit the woodwork and went in off the back of Lithuania goalkeeper Arlauskis for an unfortunate own goal – meaning own goals joined absent England captain Wayne Rooney on 50.
Jonjo Shelvey also forced a save from the luckless Watford second-string keeper and England were cruising by half time.
There was time for Danny Ings to make his senior England debut off the bench just before the hour mark and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain made absolutely certain of victory in the 62nd minute when he was put through by Kyle Walker, thrashing in England’s third from an acute angle and into the roof of the net.
Despite the novelty of playing on an artificial surface, the only drama in this game came after full time when the Lithuania coach Igoris Pankratjevas announced he was resigning.