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Lithuania national football team
European Championship | Qualifiers
Oct 12, 2015 at 7.45pm UK
 
England national football team

0-3

FT(HT: 0-2)
Barkley (29'), Arlauskis (35' og.), Oxlade-Chamberlain (62')

Live Commentary: Lithuania 0-3 England - as it happened

Relive Sports Mole's live coverage as England round off Euro 2016 qualifying with a 10th successive win by beating Lithuania 3-0 in Vilnius.
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England finished their Euro 2016 qualification campaign with a 100% record after beating Lithuania 3-0 in Vilnius tonight for their 10th successive win in Group E.

Ross Barkley fired the Three Lions into the lead on 29 minutes, before an own goal from goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis saw them double the advantage prior to the break.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain added a slick third on 62 minutes as Roy Hodgson's side became the sixth team in history to win every single European Championship qualifier.

Below, relive the drama with our live text commentary.


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Dead rubber? Says who? Okay so England will be at Euro 2016, and Lithuania won't be, but there's still plenty to look forward to on a night when manager Roy Hodgson will punt for more fringe than Nicki Minaj. I'm Shane and I'll be guiding you through all the action from Vilnius as an experimental Three Lions XI looks to become the sixth team in history to finish Euro 2016 qualifying with a 100% record.

Let's not beat around the bush - the E in Group E stands for 'easy'. Nobody has really managed to test Hodgson's boys in this campaign. They've got 27 points from a possible 27, with a 2-0 victory over Estonia on Friday establishing a nine-match winning match streak. Can they make it a perfect 10 tonight? Probably. Let's see why.

Lithuania have given up the ghost, like Casper when he briefly returned to human form. They have nothing to play for tonight, other than the prospect of ending a meh campaign with a flourish. Their elimination was confirmed by Friday's 1-1 draw away to Slovenia. They have, to their credit, won 10 points, so victory probably won't be straight-forward for the visitors, but still, England should certainly win.

Let's take a quick look and let's see how Group E looks. Like a protologist, we'll start at the bottom and we'll unsurprisingly find San Marino there, with one point after somehow drawing with Estonia, who sit fourth, level on points with tonight's hosts. Slovenia will qualify for the playoffs in third, while Switzerland have proven England's greatest threat to top spot - and they're nine points behind in second!

Let's crack on with a bit of team news, shall we? Okay.

LITHUANIA XI: Arlauskis, Klimavicius, Freidgeimas, Mikuckis, Cernych; Andriuškevičius, Slivka, Novikovas, Zulpa; Panka Spalvis

ENGLAND XI: Butland, Walker, Jones, Jagielka, Gibbs, Shelvey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Barkley, Lallana, Vardy, Kane

LITHUANIA SUBS: Černiauskas, Zubas, Slavickas, Baravykas, D Cesnauskis, Petravicius, Pilibaitis, Kuklys, Veliulis, Matulevičius

ENGLAND SUBS: Heaton, Smalling, Walcott, Alli, Ings, Sterling, Townsend, Clyne, Bertrand

Okay, so there's eight changes for England, with Ross Barkley - who was outstanding against Estonia - Adam Lallana and Harry Kane the only survivors from Friday. Jack Butland replaces Joe Hart between the sticks. Phil Jagielka captains the side in a defence comprising of him, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker and Kieran Gibbs. In midfield, Jonjo Shelvey replaces James Milner to sit at the base, with Barkley and Lallana operating in behind their three-pronged attack. Jamie Vardy replaces Raheem Sterling on the left. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain displaces Theo Walcott on the right, while Kane leads the line once more.

We usually do a quick head-to-check segment around this time, but it's very short on this occasion due to the fact that, well, they've only squared off once. England's 4-0 win at Wembley in the reverse fixture was the first meeting between both sides. Incidentally, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling opened their international accounts during that victory, with Wayne Rooney and forgotten man Danny Welbeck also on target.

Welbeck, incidentally, is out until December. Joining Arsenal appears to turn players into cripples for whatever reason. Still, he certainly should be on the plane heading to France next summer. He has netted six times in this qualification campaign, one less than Rooney, who is on penalty duty, so he deserves a seat as much as anybody.

That's why tonight isn't your typical dead rubber. There's not much at stake, as we know, but it gives Hodgson a chance to survey his side and experiment a little. I'd have liked to see him try Walcott up front. The Arsenal man has been in fine form for the Gunners since being deployed through the middle this season, and I thought Roy (because I know him, personally) might have done the same. But nope. Not to worry.

DID YOU KNOW? Fancy a trivial stat to kill some more time? Of course you do. Did you know that English clubs have met Lithuanian clubs on eight occasions down the years? The English won every single meeting, scoring 24 along the way. That's an average of three goals per game. I worked that one out myself. #Maths

By virtue of the fact that Lithuania are 15/2 to pull off a win, you could say that there's more chance of seeing Diego Costa, with a guitar, singing Kumbaya alongside members of the FA. It's just unlikely. England, on the other hand, are 2/5, which means they'll most probably win - and win very well. They hardly set the world alight with their 2-0 win over Estonia though, with Walcott and Sterling doing the damage in a very labourous affair on Friday. So who knows.

PREDICTION! Despite their experimental XI, England have more than enough quality, but it remains to be seen if they can summon the motivation. Will they? No, but they'll still win. I'm going 2-0. It's also an artificial pitch, and the English boys won't be used to that.

Let's see what Twitter is saying about this one.

Lydia can't wait for this one.


Dan, on the other hand, is proudly repping his nation tonight. Good for you, sir.


This is beautifully put, and he's not wrong, is he?


Another pro-Lithuania - England marcher here.


And here come the lads! Remember that music from the first Die Hard, when the baddies crack open the vault? That music is playing. Don't ask me why.

Steam is being released by the mouth's of the Lithuanian lads as they sing their anthem. It's quite cold in Vilnius, below freezing in fact!

KICKOFF: Right, we're off in Vilnius! England get us underway on this artificial field. Not much atmosphere it has to be said. Everybody's too cold.

Excellent surging run by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain down this right-hand side, but he's eventually stopped in his tracks. Big night for him. He'll want to impress.

Perfect example of how swift this pitch is as Vardy runs it out of play after a brilliant surging run to leave Georgas Freidgeimas for dead. It'll take them a while to get to grips with the surface.

Eight minutes gone and it's all England as you might expect. They'll win this, and comfortably, but the quicker they adapt to the pitch, the better.

SHOT! We've seen the first shot now then as Arlauskis denies Harry Kane's effort. It's gone for a corner, which comes to nothing. Much better from England.

Unlucky from Oxlade-Chamberlain as he bids to play in Vardy but, again, the pace of the surface did him no favours and it went out for a goal kick.

SAVE! Harry Kane very much the danger man from an England perspective as you might expect, and the Spurs striker forces Arlauskis into another half-decent save just now, beating it away at his near post. Again, the corner comes to nothing.

England still toiling deep in Lithuania's half as Lallana's cross for Vardy is headed behind by a yellow shirt. It's a corner but again, nothing doing. Lallana's delivery from set pieces leaves a little to be desired tonight.

We're 20 minutes deep and still awaiting the first goal. Actually, still awaiting the first chance! It's been a little pedestrian at times from England, but they're totally dominant. I'm not Lithuania have got anywhere near the opposition box yet.

SHOT! Another snap-shot from Kane and Arlauskis beats it away, with Freidgeimas then mopping up before Vardy can tap home a rebound. That's three shots from Kane but none of them were really testing Arlaukis.

Lallana's cross goes straight out for a goal kick. He's not having the best of it so far, the Liverpool man. But then again, neither is any white shirt. Ross Barkley has been crazily quiet.

GOAL! Lithuania 0-1 England (Ross Barkley)

We said Barkley was quiet, and he was, but what a way to perk up. The Everton midfielder works a yard of space on his right, before firing home from outside the box with an effort that left Arlaukis with no chance.

England have their tails up now and Vardy's cross is well stopped by Arlaukis, who had to get that because Kane and Oxlade-Chamberlain were lurking.

SHOT! This took a while but Butland has been forced into a save, and it's a very good one as he tips away Spalvis's left-footed drive. Would've been the ultimate sucker punch.

GOAL! Lithuania 0-2 England (Harry Kane)

England double the lead through Kane, who is played in by Lallana's clever flick, but he still has plenty to do as he fires a left-footed effort past Arlaukis, who might've done better at his near post. It actually came back off the stopper, who might be an own goal actually. Who knows. What we do know is that it's definitely 2-0 and probably game over.

Slightly better from Lithuania, who have two shot as Novikovas and Freidgemas drag efforts wide of Butland's goal.

SHOT! Swansea midfielder Shelvey drills a fierce low drive at goal, but it's well held by Arlaukis. England totally dominant again.

HALF TIME: Lithuania 0-2 England

So, Lithuania are rather dreadful, and England are in, say, fourth gear and still leading comfortably. It's been a relaxed night for the visitors, who took the lead through Barkley's excellent, albeit deflected, strike, before Kane doubled the lead. It took England a while to get to grips with the pitch, but they did and they're cruising toward a 10th successive qualifying win.

KICKOFF: We're back in Vilnius, my friends. England leading 2-0 courtesy of Ross Barkley's opener and I think Harry Kane, though it might go down as an own goal.

England start this half as dominantly as they finished the second one. I'd love to see the possession - it must be 65% - 35% in England's favour.

CHANCE! Oh my, it should be 3-0 as Oxlade-Chamberlain plays in Harry Kane, whose close-range shot is kept out by Arlauskis, but Kane still looked certain to tap home the rebound before a yellow shirt cleared off the line.

It's gone a bit quiet in recent minutes. The visitors still utterly dominant but they're running out of ideas somewhat. Motivation is certainly at a premium.

SUB: Kane leaves the field without a goal as Danny Ings comes on for his England debut. I fancy him to score. Quote me.

We've reached the hour mark then and our pre-match prediction of 2-0 looks good so far, but surely they'll score again? They should, but who knows.

GOAL! Lithuania 0-3 England (Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain)

He's been quiet tonight, but Oxlade-Chamberlain bags himself a goal after being played in by Walker, before the Arsenal man, who has the angle against him, smashes past Arlaskis at his near post. Game set and match, I think.

Huge mistake by Shelvey here as he allows Vykintas Slivka in on goal, but the Lithuanian man can't make the most of the opportunity. He's been dreadful, he really has.

SUB: Dele Alli makes his second England appearance now as he replaces the poor Lallana.

SHOT! Just under 20 minutes of normal time to go and England want more - and they nearly get one as Ings's long-range drive is kept out by Arlaskis.

SUB: Andros Townsend replaces Barkley now. I'm not going to lie - he was poor as well, but England haven't needed to be good tonight. They've been in third or fourth gear throughout.

BOOKINGS: Stupid from Shelvey and Vardy as they're both booked for encroachment in separate incidents for the same free kick! Madness. Twelve to play.

Nine minutes to play and England been quite sloppy in recent minutes. They can afford to be. The game is over. Well over.

Poor cross from Dele Alli here as it flies over the head of Townsend, who was unmarked at the back post. There's a general malaise around England's display tonight. Very poor.

Two minutes of normal time to go and there's just been nothing happening. It's been very, very lethargic from both sides in recent minutes.

THREE MINUTES ADDED ON:

FULL TIME: Lithuania 0-3 England

So, that's it! Oxlade-Chamberlain added to Ross Barkley's opener and Giedrius Arlauskis's own goal as England make it 10 wins on the spin! Was it ever in doubt? No. England have been dominant throughout. It was a game which had goals, but also it was a game lacking in chances, atmosphere and quality and praise the lord it's over. Thanks for tuning into it, though, and we'll see you next time!

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San Marino's Matteo Vitaioli celebrates after scoring with his team-mates during the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying group E football match between Lithuania and San Marino in Vilnius on September 8, 2015
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