England vs Kosovo result: Five things we learned as Three Lions triumph in eight-goal thriller

It was only the slightest of touches, followed by the smoothest of pirouettes, and yet Raheem Sterling had swept the entirety of Kosovo’s midfield out to sea in one liquid motion. In truth, he shouldn’t even have been lingering on the centre-circle. But, sensing the breakaway and the lack of link between defence and attack, he drifted back, shook off three defenders and sucked in two more before laying the ball off for Kane to drill a low shot through the keeper’s legs.

That was just one act in a performance that drifted between the exceptional and seemingly effortless. There was the idle flick over the Kosovan right-back’s head, the wriggling runs into the box which seemed to cast a longshore drift over the entire defence and leave empty shores of space behind. For much of this match, even with Jadon Sancho’s own trickery on the other wing, Sterling was operating on a level the players around him could only marvel at and, the greatest testament to the past two years is that it’s what we’ve now come to greedily expect.

For all Keane’s traffic-red blushes, his early error was buried as little more than a muddy footnote by the end of this frantic match. Yet, the sheer absence of concentration within the first 30 seconds was as comical as it were complacent. To lay responsibility firmly at the leaden feet of Keane and his deftly weighted through ball to Kosovan striker Valon Berisha would be cruel. Instead, it was Ross Barkley’s old-fashioned hospital pass that engendered the early panic and allowed Berisha to expel a 14-month goal drought.

It was a blunder that epitomised England’s warped balance. In Sterling, Kane and Sancho/Rashford, Gareth Southgate boasts one of the most prolific and exciting front-threes in all of football. In defence, despite Harry Maguire’s £80m price-tag, there’s an awkward and perpetual unsteadiness that refuses to fade. After Keane’s early calamity, Maguire’s inexcusably clumsy slide tackle gifted Kosovo the penalty from which they scored their third goal and, after Southgate spent the build-up to this match calling for focus, he must be wondering which forgotten well he’s been shouting down.

It’s the total lack of fear that is most striking about Jadon Sancho. Making just his third start for England, there is no over-urgency to impress that hinders his decision-making, no reluctance to run straight at defenders in a way that causes them to stumble over their own feet.

His two goals were headline-grabbing, the product of well-timed runs and Kosovo’s own defensive shortcomings, but it was the sense of calm the 19-year-old exuded that is so impressive. With 14 goals in 37 Bundesliga appearances, there is no need to treat Sancho as a prospect in need of a feathered touch or steady integration.

In this traditional 4-3-3 set-up, playing as the right-winger so Sterling can flourish on his favoured left, he is one of England’s standout players. That fact becomes clearer with every astute performance, and the case for Marcus Rashford’s inclusion becomes all the more tricky to negotiate.

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From the moment Berisha scythed past Jordan Pickford, this match was played out with the composed grace of a bloody gung-ho ending to a Tarantino film. And, for the neutral, the eight goals were thrilling to watch, the defensive flaws enticing and bemusing, the endless freedom in attack the type of box-office football to leaveTV networks drooling.

But, on the touchline, Southgate must have been wondering what he could do to take hold of this maelstrom. With the score at 5-3, England were even sitting back, springing on the counter-attack against a Kosovo side who boast an admittedly understated No 120 world ranking.

It’s hard to avoid England’s lack of adaptability in such a scenario. There is no broad-shouldered defensive lynchpin to rely on when a bully is needed to break up the play and a palpable reluctance to switch out of the side's 4-3-3 formation. Against tonight’s opponents, there was never any real threat that England would squander their lead, but it does beg the question over what answers Southgate has when England come up against a side every bit as talented and technical.

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Ben Chilwell returned to the starting eleven in the role he’s supposed to occupy for a decade to come, but the defensive uncertainty seemed to spread to the Leicester left-back with viral strength. Faced by Florent Hadergjonaj, who is usually sheltered as a right-back for Huddersfield, Chilwell was often found guilty and seemed to lack the gloss of composure that’s come to be so commonplace at club level.

That can perhaps be forgiven in a game that was decidedly helter-skelter, but with Danny Rose still more than readily vying for that role, on a night where defenders writhed in the mud, Chilwell came out far from unscathed.