Harry Kane breaks Rooney record, England outlasts Italy comeback bid

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Harry Kane broke Wayne Rooney’s record for goals in an England shirt, and the Three Lions outlasted a Luke Shaw red card and Mateo Retegui goal on his Italy debut to start EURO 2024 qualifying brightly with a 2-1 win in Napoli.

The win is England’s first in Italy since 1961.

England began its EURO 2024 quest the same way it finished its heartbreaking EURO 2020 campaign: facing Italy, now two-time champions of Europe, on Thursday.

[ LIVE: EURO 2024 qualifying scores – Italy vs England ]

Declan Rice buried a Harry Kane rebound off a corner kick, then Kane converted a penalty for his 54th England goal to break a tie with Rooney atop the Three Lions’ goals chart.

But Italy surged back to get a goal from Tigre’s Retegui on debut, and Shaw was awarded two yellow cards in three minutes to set England up to defend at least 10 minutes down a man.

Italy and England are joined in Group C by Ukraine, North Macedonia, and Malta. The sides that finish 1st and 2nd in the group will qualify for next summer’s tournament in Germany.

[ MORE: USMNT upcoming schedule – Nations League, friendlies, Gold Cup ]


Italy vs England player ratings: Stars of the Show

Harry Kane

Francesco Acerbi

Declan Rice

Bukayo Saka

Italy vs England player ratings
fotmob.com

What’s next?

England hosts Ukraine at Noon ET Sunday, the same day Italy visits Malta at Ta’Qali National Stadium.


Declan Rice goal video: West Ham man pumps in rebound off corner

Harry Kane goal video: VAR-awarded penalty, converted

Mateo Retegui goal video: Argentine-born striker scores on debut


How to watch Italy vs England live, stream link and start time

Kick off: 3:45pm ET, Thursday (March 23)
Stadium: Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, Napoli
TV: FS1


Italy lineup and squad

Goalkeepers – Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Claudio Carnesecchi (Cremonese), Wladimiro Falcone (Lecce)

Defenders – Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Inter Milan), Francesco Acerbi (Inter Milan), Emerson Palmieri (West Ham), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Leonardo Spinazzola (Roma), Alessio Romagnoli (Lazio), Rafael Toloi (Atalanta), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino)

Midfielders – Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain), Jorginho (Arsenal), Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Lorenzo Pellegrini (Roma), Matteo Pessina (Monza), Sandro Tonali (AC Milan), Davide Frattesi (Sassuolo)

Forwards – Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Gianluca Scamacca (West Ham), Vincenzo Grifo (Freiburg), Wilfried Gnonto (Leeds), Simone Pafundi (Udinese), Mateo Retegui (Tigre)

England lineup and squad

Goalkeepers – Jordan Pickford (Everton), Fraser Forster (Tottenham), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)

Defenders – Kyle Walker (Manchester City), John Stones (Manchester City), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Eric Dier (Tottenham), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Reece James (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace)

Midfielders – Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Declan Rice (West Ham), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea)

Forwards – Harry Kane (Tottenham), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City), James Maddison (Leicester), Ivan Toney (Brentford)

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Premier League table, 2022-23 season

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If it’s the 2022-23 Premier League table you’re after, you’ve come to the right place.

[ MORE: How to watch Premier League in USA ]

After the break for the 2022 World Cup, the Premier League returned with a bang and the start to 2023 delivered plenty of fun and it continued into the business end of the season.

Manchester City chased down Arsenal to win yet another Premier League title. Manchester United’s new-look side reclaimed a place in the top four, and so did Newcastle. Brighton and Aston Villa surprised by qualifying for Europe, while Liverpool dips into an unusual competition for its recent standards.

Teams were relegated. Managers were sacked. And here’s how the table looked when all was said and done.


Premier League final table – End of season

Premier League standings

NBC Sports’ standings and scoreboard



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Premier League all-time goal leaders: Harry Kane passes Wayne Rooney

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Alan Shearer is the king of Premier League goal scorers, but Harry Kane is racing to challenge his crown.

Shearer scored 260 Premier League goals during his remarkable career with Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United, and that figure’s even more impressive when you consider his first professional seasons were played prior to the Premier League era with Southampton.

Wayne Rooney’s incredible career, played almost entirely in the Premier League, saw him become the second player to bag 200+ goals in the competition. The former Manchester United and Everton star counts 208 goals as his haul.

[ MORE: Premier League all-time assist leaders ]

Now ahead of Rooney? Harry Kane, whose 213 goals are 47 behind Shearer.

Kane, 29, scored 30 goals this Premier League season and would be running away with accolades were It not for some fella named Erling Haaland bagging goal after goal for Manchester City.

Will the Tottenham legend stay in England in a bid to chase down Shearer and, if he does, will he do it?

Read the full list of the Premier League’s all-time goal scorers, after the jump.

Premier League all-time goal leaders

bold denotes active player

  1. Alan Shearer, 260
  2. Harry Kane, 213
  3. Wayne Rooney, 208
  4. Andrew Cole, 187
  5. Sergio Aguero, 184
  6. Frank Lampard, 177
  7. Thierry Henry, 175
  8. Robbie Fowler, 163
  9. Jermain Defoe, 162
  10. Michael Owen, 150
  11. Les Ferdinand, 149
  12. Teddy Sheringham, 146
  13. Robin van Persie, 144
  14. Mohamed Salah, 139
  15. Jamie Vardy, 136
  16. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, 127
  17. Robbie Keane, 126
  18. Nicolas Anelka, 125
  19. Dwight Yorke, 123
  20. Romelu Lukaku, 121
  21. Steven Gerrard, 120
  22. Raheem Sterling, 115
  23. Ian Wright, 113
  24. Dion Dublin, 111
  25. Sadio Mane, 111

Premier League all-time assist leaders: Kevin De Bruyne climbs

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Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne tied Premier League legend Frank Lampard on the all-time assists leaderboard on Wednesday when his free kick service to John Stones gave City a 2-0 lead over Arsenal in their huge Wednesday match at the Etihad Stadium.

“KDB” now has 102 Premier League assists, and 100 PL assists is a feat that can be claimed by only four other players and has never been done faster than De Bruyne’s achieved it.

The assist is De Bruyne’s 16th of this Premier League season.

[ MORE: Premier League assist leaders ]

De Bruyne may not track down Ryan Giggs’ 162 career PL assists, but the other members are the top three are within his reach if he plays at least one more season with Man City.

DC United boss Wayne Rooney is next: He recorded 103.

Second place could take some doing, as Cesc Fabregas record 111 assists between Arsenal and Chelsea.

There are several other active Premier League players in and around the top 25 for all-time assists. Check the full list after the jump.


Premier League all-time assist leaders

bold denotes active player

  1. Ryan Giggs, 162
  2. Cesc Fabregas, 111
  3. Wayne Rooney, 103
  4. Frank Lampard, 102
  5. Kevin De Bruyne, 102
  6. Dennis Bergkamp, 94
  7. David Silva, 93
  8. Steven Gerrard, 92
  9. James Milner, 87
  10. David Beckham, 80
  11. Teddy Sheringham, 76
  12. Thierry Henry, 74
  13. Christian Eriksen, 74
  14. Andrew Cole, 73
  15. Ashley Young, 71
  16. Darren Anderton, 68
  17. Gareth Barry, 64
  18. Alan Shearer, 64
  19. Matt Le Tissier, 63
  20. Nolberto Solano, 62
  21. Riyad Mahrez, 61
  22. Stewart Downing, 59
  23. Steve McManaman, 59
  24. Raheem Sterling, 59
  25. Mohamed Salah, 59
  26. Peter Crouch, 58
  27. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, 58
  28. Andy Robertson, 57
  29. Eric Cantona, 56
  30. Theo Walcott, 56
  31. Kevin Davies, 55
  32. Didier Drogba, 55
  33. Damien Duff, 55
  34. Steed Malbranque, 55
  35. Danny Murphy
  36. Paul Scholes, 55
  37. Eden Hazard, 54
  38. Juan Mata, 54
  39. Mesut Ozil, 54
  40. Trent Alexander-Arnold, 54
  41. Jordan Henderson, 54
  42. Leighton Baines, 53
  43. Emile Heskey, 53
  44. Robin van Persie, 53
  45. Heung-min Son, 52
  46. Roberto Firmino, 50
  47. Nick Barmby, 50
  48. Aaron Lennon, 50
  49. Gylfi Sigurdsson, 50
  50. Dwight Yorke, 50

Premier League assist leaders: Kevin De Bruyne wins Playmaker of the Season

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Kevin De Bruyne’s gaudy assist numbers give rise to any number of considerations, and we have to wonder if the Manchester City star has ever wondered if the Premier League record would be his in a world in which Jose Mourinho found better use for him at Chelsea.

De Bruyne’s 16 assists this Premier League season were four more than his nearest competitor s– Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah — and give him 102 for his career. That’s fourth all-time, one fewer than Wayne Rooney and 60 (?!) behind record holder Ryan Giggs.

[ MORE: Premier League Golden Boot race ]

The Belgian star, 31, arrived at Chelsea from Werder Bremen at the age of 22 and managed only 425 minutes in a half-season before being offloaded to Wolfsburg. Back in the Bundesliga, De Bruyne got six assists the rest of the way before setting up 21 goals the next season to set up a move to Man City.

He’s now won the nascent Premier League Playmaker of the Season Award thrice, including a 20-assist 2019-20 season. Harry Kane, Mohamed Salah, and Eden Hazard have also won the award, which is only five years old.

De Bruyne also led the Premier League in assists in 2016-17, the year before the league but a name on the honor.

His stats hint that there’s more to come, as ‘KDB’ is creating gaudy numbers. After a season in which he scored 15 times with eight assists, De Bruyne is back taunting those who’d dare chase him in terms of setting up goals (Some guy named Erling Haaland is helping…).

Premier League 2022-23 assist leaders

  1. Kevin De Bruyne, Man City — 16
  2. Mohamed Salah, Liverpool — 12
  3. Leandro Trossard, Arsenal/Brighton — 12
  4. Bukayo Saka, Arsenal — 11
  5. Michael Olise, Crystal Palace — 11
  6. Riyad Mahrez, Man City — 10
  7. James Maddison, Leicester City — 9
  8. Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool — 9
  9. Andy Robertson, Liverpool — 8
  10. Ivan Perisic, Tottenham Hotspur — 8
  11. Bruno Fernandes, Manchester United — 8
  12. Christian Eriksen, Manchester United — 8
  13. Morgan Gibbs-White, Nottingham Forest — 8
  14. Pascal Gross, Brighton — 8
  15. Bryan Mbeumo, Brentford — 8
  16. Erling Haaland, Man City — 8
  17. Martin Odegaard, Arsenal — 7
  18. Solly March, Brighton — 7
  19. Jack Harrison, Leeds — 7
  20. Granit Xhaka, Arsenal — 7
  21. Dominic Solanke, Bournemouth — 7
  22. Kieran Trippier, Newcastle United — 7
  23. Alex Iwobi, Everton — 7
  24. Jack Grealish, Man City — 7
  25. Dejan Kulusevski, Tottenham Hotspur — 7
  26. Jacob Ramsey, Aston Villa — 7
  27. Andreas Pereira, Fulham — 6
  28. Ollie Watkins, Aston Villa — 6
  29. Rodri, Manchester City — 6
  30. Joe Willock, Newcastle — 6
  31. Mathias Jensen, Brentford — 6
  32. Douglas Luiz, Aston Villa — 6
  33. Heung-min Son, Tottenham Hotspur — 6
  34. Gabriel Jesus, Arsenal — 6