England beat Greece 3-0 in Athens to go top of their Nations League B2 group on goal difference.
Ollie Watkins fired in a close-range opener from Noni Madueke’s seventh minute pass to put England on course for a clinical victory.
Odysseas Vlachodimos’ 78th minute own-goal via deflection of Jude Bellingham’s shot, plus Curtis Jones’ 83rd minute close-range effort on debut sealed victory.
England now sit top of League B2 on goal difference from Greece going into their final group games.
Speaking to UK TV broadcaster, ITV post-match, England’s interim head coach, Lee Carsley praised his players for a positive result despite their injury crisis.
“It represents that we are moving in the right direction. We won’t get too carried away, we have a big game on Sunday at Wembley.
“It is just important the players played to their strengths. We have a lot of outstanding talent. The players that weren’t here, we concentrated on the ones who were. They took their opportunity today.”
Carsley proceeded to single Jones out for praise as he acknowledged how the team dealt with their inexperience as an unit.
“Curtis Jones is an outstanding player. He played really well, even without his goal. With his goal it was an excellent performance.
“People were speaking last night about the inexperience in the squad but these players are playing for their clubs at a really high level.”
Elsewhere, Evan Ferguson’s 45th minute winner saw Republic of Ireland beat Finland in Dublin, which relegated the Finnish to League C.
Aware that only a win would keep their League A promotion dreams alive amidst several changes, England made a bright start as a second-minute counter-attack ended with Madueke’s shot blocked.
Their quick start paid off just five minutes later as Madueke was played through up the right, from which he calmly teed up Watkins to fire in from close-range.
Odysseas Vlachodimos kept Greece in the game with a 18th minute save from Madueke’s left-footed shot following an one-on-one duel with Konstantinos Tsimikas.
Greece eventually began to find a foothold as Lazaros Rota’s 26th minute shot was saved.
Tsimikas then played a 30th minute one-two move up the left with Christos Tzolis but his shot was flapped behind by Jordan Pickford, albeit moments after the English goalkeeper had been booked for time-wasting.
Greece continued to pile on the pressure but England held firm to hold their lead into half-time, despite having travelled without nine players who had withdrawn through injury.
England boss, Carsley though substituted Ezri Konsa at the break for debutant -Lewis Hall, with Rico Lewis moved to right-back.
That gamble nearly paid off seven minutes into the second half as Lewis met Madueke’s cutback pass, but Vlachodimos made a crucial block.
Greece subsequently made a triple change but Fotis Ioannidis and Dimitrios Pelkas couldn’t convert their chances, amidst Tzolis’ flicked effort into Pickford’s body.
Morgan Rogers like Hall made his senior debut as a substitute as he, Harry Kane and Jarrod Bowen came on in a triple-change for England.
Bellingham however sealed victory with a 78th minute strike which was deflected in by Vlachodimos, with the goal ultimately declared as an own-goal by the Greek goalkeeper as the Three Lions went top on goal difference.
England further extended their lead in the 83rd minute as Jones netted his maiden international goal on his senior debut, having turned in from Morgan Gibbs-White’s cutback pass.
England ultimately clung on to seal victory and go top on goal difference from Greece, as the Greeks’ unbeaten five-match run in all competitions ended.
What’s Next?
Greece conclude their group campaign with a trip to Finland on Sunday 17 November at 6pm CET (5pm GMT).
England meanwhile host Republic of Ireland at Wembley Stadium, London, at 5pm GMT, as Carsley’s interim reign comes to a close.
Teams
Greece – Odysseas Vlachodimos, Konstantinos Tsimikas (Pelkas 57′), Dinos Koulierakis, Dinos Mavropanos, Lazaros Rota, Christos Zafeiris, Manolis Siopis (Mantalos 82′), Christos Tzolis, Anastasios Bakasetas (Ioannidis 57′), Georgios Masouras (Konstantelias 70′), Vangelis Pavlidis (Giannoulis 56′)
Substitutes: Sotiris Alexandropoulos, Anastasios Douvikas, Dimitris Giannoulis, Pantelis Hatzidiakos, Fotis Ioannidis, Giannis Konstantelias, Christos Mandas, Petros Mantalos, Dimitrios Pelkas, Panos Retsos, Konstantis Tzolakis, Georgios Vagiannidis
England – Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa (Hall 46′), Rico Lewis, Curtis Jones, Conor Gallagher (Gibbs-White 79′), Noni Madueke (Bowen 66′), Jude Bellingham, Anthony Gordon (Rogers 66′), Ollie Watkins (Kane 66′)
Substitutes: Angel Gomes, Jarrod Bowen, Morgan Gibbs-White, Lewis Hall, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Dean Henderson, Harry Kane, Tino Livramento, Jarrell Quansah, Morgan Rogers, Dominic Solanke, James Trafford
Referee – Daniel Siebert (Germany)
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