'Chastened' England devoured by Hungary

But captain Kane says 'no time to panic' and backs underfire Southgate

WOLVERHAMPTON, England－England manager Gareth Southgate accepted responsibility for the Three Lions' worst home defeat since 1928 as Hungary stormed to a 4-0 win in Wolverhampton on Tuesday.

Southgate's men are staring at relegation from the top tier of the Nations League after a fourth consecutive game without a win.

But he called for fans to stand by his players ahead of the World Cup in five months' time.

"I totally understand tonight is a chastening experience," said Southgate, who was the target for most of the anger coming from the stands at Molineux.

"What I would say is this group of players have been unbelievable for the country and it's important people stay with them because they are still going to be strong going forward."

England surpassed all expectations to reach the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup and backed that up by reaching the final of a major tournament for the first time in 55 years at Euro 2020 last summer.

"It's no time to panic," said England captain Harry Kane, who dismissed any suggestion that Southgate should be fired.

"It was a night to forget but we've got to take it on the chin. We've got to move forward.

"We are preparing for a big World Cup and that's the most important thing."

Asked if Southgate remained the right person to coach England, Kane said: "Without any question. That's not a question I should even be answering if I'm honest."

There was tension before the game kicked off as England fans drowned out the Hungarian anthem with a chant referencing Hungary's history of racist abuse of players by fans. Hungary was punished by UEFA and FIFA for racist incidents in games last year, including one in which England players were abused.

Hungary had been clinging on to a 1-0 lead from Roland Sallai's early goal for much of the match, before England fell apart in the latter stages. Sallai made it 2-0 in the 70th minute before Zsolt Nagy fired in a shot from the edge of the box for 3-0.England defender John Stones was sent off for a second booking after what seemed like slight contact with an opponent and Daniel Gazdag added a fourth for Hungary.

Plenty of England players showed signs of being physically and perhaps mentally tired after a long season, with little creativity in the face of a densely packed Hungarian formation and midfielder Kalvin Phillips in particular giving away possession cheaply ahead of the second goal.

It was England's biggest home loss since being beaten 5-1 by Scotland 94 years ago. Other losses to Hungary loom large in English soccer history. A 6-3 home loss in 1953 and 7-1 defeat away the following year played crucial roles in shaking England's view of itself as a preeminent soccer nation of the era.

After no wins and just one goal in four Nations League games, Southgate defended his choice to rotate the lineup and give fringe players game time.

"In the end (of Tuesday's game), you're pushing and you've got so many attacking players on that we've left ourselves wide open. I've just said to the players there, across the four matches, that's my responsibility," he told Channel 4.

"We've tried to balance looking at new players and trying to rest players that we couldn't keep flogging, our more experienced and better players."

Hungary, coached by Italian Marco Rossi, secured its first win over England for 60 years in Budapest earlier this month and followed that up with its first victory on English soil since the 6-3 success at Wembley in 1953.

The Hungarians remain on course to reach the Nations League finals next year. They are not headed to the World Cup after finishing a distant fourth behind England in their qualifying group.

But they lead Germany by a point in Nations League Group A3, with European champion Italy a further point behind with two games to go.

England is three points adrift at the bottom of the section and needs a revival in September away to Italy and at home to Germany to avoid relegation.

However, of greater concern for Southgate is how he rallies his squad with just two more matches before the Three Lions' World Cup campaign kicks off against Iran on Nov 21.

Fatigue at the end of a long season that began just weeks after losing the Euro 2020 final has been blamed for England's lackluster form.

Southgate has rotated his side heavily this month and admitted his decisions have backfired.

"The results are my responsibility," added Southgate. "We picked a young team with energy and when the game started to go against them, it started to look that way.

"That's my responsibility in the end. I felt at halftime we needed to go for the game. We made changes to have a more attacking impetus, but then we were more open as well."

Southgate has bemoaned a reliance on Kane and Raheem Sterling for goals and Kane's penalty remains the only goal England has scored in four games this month.

However, there are also major defensive issues for Southgate to address before the World Cup.

Stones rounded off a miserable evening when he was harshly sent off for a second yellow card eight minutes from time.

The Manchester City centerback was also at fault for the opening goal as he turned a freekick into the path of Sallai, whose shot had too much power for Aaron Ramsdale.

Sallai produced another deadly finish to double Hungary's lead 20 minutes from time when he latched onto Martin Adam's inch-perfect pass to fire in between Ramsdale's legs.

Nagy drilled home a powerful shot from the edge of the area to put the result beyond any doubt.

Stones was then given his marching orders before Gazdag broke clear to rub salt into England's wounds.

Agencies