Lee Carsley made a profitable begin as interim England boss as targets from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish secured a 2-0 victory over Republic of Eire of their Nations League opener.
Rice and Grealish struck within the area of 15 first-half minutes to reply the boos of the house followers on the Aviva Stadium for having switched allegiance from Eire to England as children.
Rice declined to rejoice his aim – slammed residence from the centre of the field – however Grealish, again within the crew after being omitted from the squad for Euro 2024, loved his second having discovered the nook from Rice’s cut-back to cap a slick England transfer.
England followers hoping to see a extra attacking fashion than underneath Gareth Southgate might take encouragement from their first-half show, with Harry Kane and the spectacular Anthony Gordon additionally going shut and Trent Alexander-Arnold orchestrating proceedings from right-back.
However Eire, embarking on a brand new period of their very own underneath new boss Heimir Hallgrimsson, confirmed enchancment after the one-sided first interval, with Sammie Szmodics firing a superb probability huge after the break having been arrange by Chiedozie Ogbene.
England misplaced their rhythm after half-time however did have possibilities to increase their lead, with Bukayo Saka denied by Caoimhin Kelleher in stoppage time, by which level Carsley had additionally handed senior debuts to Angel Gomes and Morgan Gibbs-White from the bench.
In the long run, although, the two-goal cushion proved adequate for England to start the post-Southgate period with a win that places them prime of Nations League Group B2 having dropped down from League A within the final version of the competitors.
Morgan Gibbs-White featured from the bench
Carsley, a Republic of Eire worldwide throughout his enjoying profession, will hope the outcome quietens the pre-match furore over his resolution to not sing England’s nationwide anthem.
Grealish: Euros snub motivated me
England’s Jack Grealish informed ITV Sport:
“It meant everything today. Going to the fans at the end, hearing them singing my name and stuff, there’s no better feeling than playing for England, especially in games like this where you know the whole nation is watching you.
Jack Grealish doubled England’s lead towards Republic of Eire
“It was one of the worst summers of my life, because you can’t not see everything happening in front of you. It was difficult, but it’s given me more motivation to bounce back.
“[The reception] is what me and Dec[lan] Rice anticipated. I stated earlier than the sport, it is completely different; now we have nothing dangerous to say.
“We both enjoyed our time playing here, I have a lot of Irish in my family. There’s no bad blood whatsoever from my side.
“Clearly, going again to myself – I would like to begin enjoying usually and scoring targets, and that is what I did at the moment. I did not really feel 100 per cent match, match, however I am comfortable.”
Carsley: Grealish has nothing to prove
England interim boss Lee Carsley to ITV Sport:
“They each took their targets very well, they had been actually well-worked strikes and sensible finishes.
“They can both score a lot more goals moving forward. Jack hasn’t got anything to prove to us, we can see his quality.
“That may have carried out him the world of excellent at the moment, and hopefully he can proceed that type.
“I wouldn’t call it my way of playing, the player have to take a lot of credit.
Robbie Brady fouls Bukayo Saka
“The way they took on some of the things we spoke about, moving the ball forward quickly, running forward, trying to get in pockets, I thought they did really well.
“On a extremely dry, sticky pitch, Anthony [Gordon] was an actual menace. He is carried on his type from final season and appears a extremely harmful participant.
“You’ve got to give Ireland credit [for the second half], they were resilient and closed the gaps.
“Our area went slightly bit wider and we discovered it slightly bit harder to get by means of them. However at 2-0 we had been fairly comfy.”
Keane: England good first half but awful second
Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane on ITV Sport:
“The irritating factor for at the moment is Eire had been there for the taking.
“England dominated the first half – we praised their decision-making, quality and movement.
Kobbie Mainoo and Chiedozie Ogbene battle for the ball
“It was the opposite in the second; they were awful in the second half. They were doing it for themselves, taking too many touches, trying to play Roy of the Rovers passes.
“Eire performed with lots of delight within the second half, however nearly as good as England had been within the first half, they had been as dangerous within the second half.
“Even with the substitutions, players were strolling off, showing a bit of arrogance.
“There is a crew there for the taking – particularly with the attacking gamers on the pitch, they need to be pondering they’d an opportunity to attain a aim.”
