Tuchel era up and running without drama : England v Albania in a nutshell
Key Facts:
World Cup Qualifier
England (1) 2 Lewis-Skelly 20, Kane 77
Albania (0) 0
How the game panned out: England monopolised the ball and a high press ensured they retrieved quickly when possession was lost. This is what new boss Thomas Tuchel would have demanded at the outset. They had 76 percent of the ball.
After patient probing, Jude Bellingham's angled low pass into the box was perfect for Myles Lewis-Skelly to race onto and prod home through the legs of keeper Thomas Strakosha - making it a dream debut for the Arsenal teenager.
Harry Kane, picked out by a fine Declan Rice chip, added the second with a smart control and turn in the box before curling into the far bottom corner for his 70th international goal.
Main talking point: Lewis-Skelly - the 18-year-old Islington boy scoring 20 minutes into his England debut. It crowns a sensational leap to stardom for the young full-back. His season has not been without a few hiccups - the red cards are on the rap sheet - but he has the makings of another Ashley Cole, with his supreme confidence on the ball.
Dan Burn, at 32, is at the polar opposite of his career path to Lewis-Skelly but his inclusion - in the week he tasted Wembley glory in the Carabao Cup final - will have made some Fulham fans proud. He may be a Blyth boy through and through but west London played a part in his belated rise to international recognition.
He rattled the bar with a towering header from a Rice corner in a near-repeat of his goal on Sunday and seemed to be heavily involved whenever the visitors got into the final third - which was not that often.
Who was great, who disappointed: Phil Foden continues to look off it compared to the levels he reached when Man City were on fire. Marcus Rashford on the other flank had a couple of good darts in from the left but there was no end product. Mostly it was Ok from all the England players on duty.
How did the other London boys get on? Hammers boy Jarrod Bowen came on midway through the second half, as did Chelsea man Armando Broja for Albania. The striker, currently on loan at Everton, received a rapturous reception from the away fans packing the away section of the West stands.
Declan Rice got through plenty of work in the engine room and it was his pass which set up the second goal of the night. He was subbed off shortly after. His good night's work done.
Reece James came on for Lewis-Skelly for injury time. On the bench remained Palace trio Dean Henderson, Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze, with Chelsea's Levi Colwill also among the subs.
The bigger picture: England are in a none-too threatening group with Andorra, Latvia and Serbia making up the five contestants. It will be a major surprise if they do not breeze through it and top the group to reach the USA, Canada, Mexico finals of 2026. Next up is Latvia at Wembley on Monday night.
England team: (4-2-3-1) Pickford - Walker, Konsa, Burn, Lewis-Skelly (James 90) - Rice (J Henderson 82), Jones (Rogers 74) - Foden (Bowen 74), Bellingham, Rashford (Gordon 74)- Kane
Attendance: 82,738
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