England ease past Greece to keep Nations League promotion hopes alive
Much of the pre-match talk centred around the nine England squad withdrawals, with Harry Kane expressing his disappointment at the situation.
The visitors’ captain wasn’t in the starting XI, but within seven minutes, his replacement Ollie Watkins had his name on the scoresheet thanks in large part to Noni Madueke, who dribbled to the byline and pulled back for the Aston Villa forward to tap home.
The Three Lions dominated possession for much of the half, yet a rare Greek attack almost saw the hosts draw level when Kostas Tsimikas – who has not scored a senior goal since 2018 – lashed a strike towards Jordan Pickford’s near post.
With HT approaching, promising breakaways led by Jude Bellingham and Watkins each came to nothing, leaving England with a one-goal buffer at the break.
Looking for greater balance to his side, Lee Carsley introduced Lewis Hall for the second half, and the early signs were positive as England looked to convert their dominance into a second goal.
A Rico Lewis snapshot forced Odysseas Vlachodimos into a save before the ensuing corner eventually made its way to Bellingham, who headed a bouncing effort onto the far post.
With an hour played, Greece were very much still in the contest, and they reminded the visitors of this fact with two troublesome moments in quick succession.
On both occasions, Pickford was needed to keep the scores level, first denying substitute Fotis Ioannidis with a strong hand before intervening to thwart a menacing set-piece delivery.
Heading into the final 15 minutes, the contest was in the balance, yet a decisive direct run from Bellingham turned the contest.
Charging at the Greek defence, Bellingham found space for a shot on the edge of the box, striking the left post before the ball bounced in off the back of Vlachodimos for England’s second of the night.
Just five minutes later, the result was sealed as substitute Morgan Gibbs-White cut the ball back to Curtis Jones, who slotted home the visitors’ third on his debut.
Having never previously beaten England on home soil, Greece continue that winless streak with a fifth H2H defeat in as many attempts, missing the chance to seal promotion to UNL League A for the first time.
Those late goals will have enormous ramifications on the group, as England move into top spot on GD ahead of their final fixtures in which Greece travel to rock-bottom Finland, while Carsley takes charge of his last interim game against the Republic of Ireland.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jude Bellingham (England)
