Kane decisive as England edge New Zealand 1-0 in lacklustre warm-up

Harry Kane scored the only goal as England edged New Zealand 1-0 in a dreadfully dull friendly in Tampa, a warm-up before their World Cup campaign. Thomas Tuchel named a reasonably strong side and Marcus Rashford sparkled sporadically, but the Three Lions struggled to create chances against the lowest-ranked World Cup qualifiers (85th).

The deadlock was broken in first-half injury time when Kane cleverly flicked an in-swinging cross from Djed Spence into the bottom right corner. Tuchel changed his entire starting 11 at half-time in what amounted to a glorified training session, and the manager will now face the question of whether to wrap Kane in cotton wool ahead of the Croatia game and hope others can lighten his goalscoring burden.

Individual ratings highlighted a few bright spots amid a flat display: Djed Spence 7 for the assist, Marcus Rashford 7 for a couple of efforts and a headed chance, and Harry Kane 8 for the decisive finish.

harry kane, england, new zealand, tampa, djed spence, marcus rashford, thomas tuchel, world cup, friendly match, injury time