Captain Kane nets brace as England bounce back to beat DR Congo

DR Congo's fearless goalkeeper, Lionel Mpasi, had kept England at bay for 75 minutes before Harry Kane came alive and scored twice to give the former champions a 2-1 win in the round of 32 of the FIFA World Cup at the Atlanta Stadium.

Kane scored his first from a powerful header in the 75th minute and hammered home the winner in the 86th minute.

For his first, Kane got ahead of his marker and headed home the equaliser as substitute Anthony Gordon chipped a tempting ball into the box. Mpasi, who was immaculate until then, got a hand to the effort from the England skipper, but it was too powerful to be parried.

But when Kane scored his second, the Le Havre custodian stood still. The superstar striker took a touch to step away from the defenders after receiving another Gordon ball. He never looked up, but he knew where the net was, and it almost exploded as the Bayern Munich man hammered home.

The fearless Congolese had threatened to show England the door, just like their fellow Africans, Morocco did against the Netherlands yesterday. They were hanging on to Brian Cipenga’s 7th minute strike and must be cursing the near miss from Yoane Wissa later in the first half when he clipped the upright from an Aaron Wan-Bissaka cross.

England had stepped up after the early setback with waves of attacks, but Mpasi stood firm, thwarting everything thrown at him, including a powerful volley from Kane from point-blank range. Kane was also denied a penalty and accused of diving as Mpasi stormed out to intercept. The goalkeeper had also applied a smart reflex save to parry a Jude Bellingham effort and was alert to another near-post attempt from the Real Madrid star.

England’s unusual moment of sloppiness early on had allowed DR Congo to capitalise. Right back Djed Spence, one of the three changes for Thomas Tuchel’s side, was nowhere to be seen as a Chancel Mbemba swung a beautiful diagonal to pick out Cipenga, who made Jordan Pickford look silly at the near post.

England relied heavily on crosses, but Congo stayed tight and compact at the back. Aaron Wan-Bissaka denied Marcus Rashford on the line.

England are one of the favourites, though they haven't won the title since 1966. Two European heavyweights, Germany and the Netherlands, crashed out in the round of 32, but England managed to regroup and found their rhythm to stay alive in the tournament. England will take on co-hosts Mexico in Mexico City on July 5.