Goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish saw England beat Republic of Ireland 2-0 in their 2024-25 Nations League opener.
Rice fired England ahead at Aviva Stadium, Dublin, with a 11th minute strike after he pounced upon a loose ball following a fumbled touch from Harry Kane.
Grealish sealed victory with a 26th minute strike from a cutback pass by his fellow ex Ireland international, Rice.
Speaking post-match to ITV, Rice was pleased to get a first win under interim boss, Lee Carsley but iterated that promotion to League A is the focus, having suffered relegation to League B at the end of the 2022-23 edition.
“Really good. It was the manager’s first game and we got a win.
“We’re in the league below where we want to be so we know how important it is to win this group.
“To score alongside Jack, it was a really nice feeling as well.”
England’s victory put them top of League B’s Group 2 before they were displaced at the summit by Greece, after Fotis Ioannidis’ brace plus Benjamin Kallman’s own-goal fired the Greeks to a 3-0 win over Finland.
Sending the #ThreeLions into the lead: @_DeclanRice ⚽️pic.twitter.com/qT94dBmvU9
— England (@England) September 7, 2024
With pressure on England to deliver in their first game under interim manager – Carsley, they were handed a sharp reminder of their defensive fragilities as Ireland’s Jayson Molumby nodded over from a third-minute corner.
Ireland delivered a further reminder with a 11th minute counter-attack which fell to Sammie Szmodics, and the Ipswich player saw his curled shot deflected by Jordan Pickford.
England subsequently unleashed a quick counter-attack of their own as Trent Alexander-Arnold played a long ball towards Anthony Gordon, but his shot was blocked by Caoimhin Kelleher.
Kane was alert to pounce but fumbled his touch which allowed ex Ireland player, Rice to sweep in and smash the ball into the net and put the Euro 2020 & 24 runners-up ahead.
Rice almost turned playmaker in the 14th minute as he teed up Gordon from a blockage of an Irish free-kick, but the winger could only see his low cross blocked by Kelleher.
England soon proceeded to control the game and their second goal came in the 26th minute, as Rice played quick one-two moves with Kobbie Mainoo and Bukayo Saka before he found Grealish to rifle into the bottom-left corner.
Ireland however tried to get themselves back into the game but Chiedozie Ogbene’s 33rd minute cross was nodded wide by Adam Idah.
Kelleher meanwhile saved a cross from Saka directed towards the incoming Kane six minutes later, as Ireland dug deep to keep their deficit to just two goals at half-time.
On the restart, England continued their dominance with an early corner which came to nothing, whilst Maguire saw a header cleared in the 51st minute.
Their defensive lapses as commonly saw under Gareth Southgate’s reign however returned around the hour mark, but they got lucky as Szmodics and Molumby both put shots wide amidst a short spell of Irish dominance.
Carsley eventually made three changes with Morgan Gibbs-White and Angel Gomes on for their senior debut, in place of Grealish and Mainoo whilst Gordon was replaced by Eze.
Jarrod Bowen and John Stones also came on in the closing minutes for England.
Bowen almost had an immediate impact barely a minute after he came on, as he broke forward in the 85th minute with a long-range shot, which Kelleher punched away from goal.
Eze fired wide two minutes later but England crucially held on to make a winning start to life under Carsley, whilst Ireland were left to rue inaccurate finishing and marking errors.
What’s Next?
Ireland host Greece at Aviva Stadium on Tuesday 10 September in a 7:45pm BST kick-off.
Carsley’s Three Lions will too be in action simultaneously as England host Finland at Wembley Stadium, London that same evening.
Teams
Ireland – Caoimhin Kelleher, Seamus Coleman (O’Brien 57′), Nathan Collins, Dara O’Shea, Robbie Brady (Ferguson 82′), Sammie Szmodics, Will Smallbone (Browne 75′), Jayson Molumby, Matt Docherty (Knight 58′), Adam Idah (McAteer 75′), Chiedozie Ogbene
Substitutes: Mark Travers, Max O’Leary, Callum O’Dowda, Andrew Omobamidele, Alan Browne, Evan Ferguson, Jake O’Brien, Kasey McAteer, Liam Scales, Jason Knight, Callum Robinson, Troy Parrott
England – Jordan Pickford, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harry Maguire (Stones 85′), Marc Guehi, Levi Colwill, Kobbie Mainoo (Gomes 77′), Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Anthony Gordon (Eze 77′), Jack Grealish (Gibbs-White 76′), Harry Kane (Bowen 84′)
Substitutes: Rico Lewis, John Stones, Conor Gallagher, Tino Livramento, Dean Henderson, Ezri Konsa, Morgan Gibbs-White, Angel Gomes, Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze, Nick Pope, Noni Madueke
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