England took a big step closer to winning automatic promotion to the top tier of the Nations League with a strong 3-0 victory over rivals Greece in Athens.
Interim manager Lee Carsley made it four wins out of five for his time in charge and made a bold call in leaving captain Harry Kane on the bench to start the game. His replacement was Ollie Watkins and the decision made off spectacularly. Noni Madueke sprinted down the right and slipped in a pass that Watkins turned home with seven minutes on the clock.
The early breakthrough settled the nerves and England were able to weather a storm from the hosts with Jordan Pickford proving his worth on a busy night between the sticks. In the second half, Carsley made attacking substitutions and replaced the whole front line.
It worked a treat as first Bellingham raced at the defence to score a fortuitious deflected shot from range before Curtis Jones added a third with a dainty flick having been supplied by substitute Morgan Rogers. Three goals and three points puts England top of Group B2 and they need one more win to gain promotion.
Relive the action from the Nations League with our live blog below as England take on Greece:
England top the table
Here’s how Group B2 is shaping up with one game left:
1) England – Played 5, won 4, lost 1, points 12, goal difference +8
2) Greece – Played 5, won 4, lost 1, points 12, goal difference +5
3) Republic of Ireland – Played 5, won 2, lost 3, points 6, goal difference -4
4) Finland – Played 5, won 0, lost 5, points 0, goal difference -9
FT Greece 0-3 England
Full-time! Greece 0-3 England
90+4 mins: A brilliant night for England. They would have felt a little irked after losing to Greece at Wembley. Three goals and a fine performance from Jordan Pickford was more than enough for the Three Lions to get through this match with a clean sheet and more importantly all three points.
England now have a better goal difference than Greece as well and will just need to defeat the Republic of Ireland at the weekend to win promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League.
Greece 0-3 England
90 mins: Four minutes of added time to play before the end of this game.
Greece 0-3 England
86 mins: Greece are still a threat but England have nullified them and the only voices to be heard in the stadium are coming from the English fans.
This victory will mean that the Three Lions have control of the group again.
GOAL! Greece 0-3 England (Curtis Jones, 83 mins)
Another one!
Morgan Gibbs-White comes off the bench and carries the ball up the pitch. He sends it out to Jarrod Bowen who slips a pass into the box for Morgan Rogers.
Rogers finds Curtis Jones who flicks a delicate shot at goal and nestles it into the far botton corner!
Greece 0-2 England
81 mins: Into the last 10 minutes now and England already seem more confortable. The main target was to get three points. Now they can try to add more goals.
GOAL! Greece 0-2 England (Jude Bellingham, 78 mins)
I’m not sure Jude Bellingham will end up with this goal but he should do. He receives the ball drives at the Greece defence before smoking a low effort at the target.
Odysseas Vlachodimos drops to the right and pushes the ball onto the post. It rebounds, hits the goalkeeper on the back and bounces back over the line.
England have their second goal.
Greece 0-1 England
75 mins: 15 minutes to play. Lee Carsley is gesturing for England to get further up the pitch. They’re being penned in at present and need to get some control on the game.
Greece 0-1 England
72 mins: The Greek fans are in full voice now and fully believe that their team can get a goal back. Jordan Pickford is being made to work tonight.
Harry Kane takes a shot from range but sends it straight at the goalkeeper.
Source: independent.co.uk
