ATHENS: Lee Carsley’s under-21 graduates did him proud by stepping to the UEFA Nations Cup plate and providing England with a 3-0 win over Greece which took them above the hosts and top of Nations League B.

Victory by any margin, large or small, against the Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Sunday will earn England promotion and provide a foundation of confidence on which Thomas Tuchel can build when he takes over in the new year.

Ollie Watkins in only the seventh minute then an own goal and piece of delicacy from debutant Curtis Jones provided interim boss Carsley with highly satisfactory revenge for the Wembley defeat to which his own mistaken choices of selection and tactics had contributed.

Watkins justified his selection ahead of captain Harry Kane when he put England ahead after only seven minutes, turning in Noni Madueke’s cross after the Chelsea winger’s fine run.

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford excelled in the rare moments of Greek pressure and the three points were secured in style late on.

The second goal had a hint of fortune when Jude Bellingham’s shot hit a post and ricocheted into the net off Greece keeper Odysseas Vlachodimos after 77 minutes.

However, the third goal, six minutes later, was a flash of individual brilliance from Liverpool’s Curtis Jones, who marked his debut by scoring with a stunning flicked finish from Morgan Gibbs-White’s cross.

Jones had already shown several pieces of sleight of foot, as well as composure in possession, but there was rare audacity about the manner in which he flicked a finish across Greece keeper Vlachodimos with the inside of his right heel from Gibbs-White’s delivery.

After the match the FA released a statement saying it was aware that some England fans had a difficult experience outside the ground and was seeking obtaining more information.

Carsley’s bold move to leave Kane on the bench paid off, while he was also able to give first caps to Newcastle United left-back Lewis Hall, on at half-time for Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa, and fellow Villa player Morgan Rogers, who was introduced in the second half.

England controlled large portions of this game, but it still required Pickford to show once again how valuable he is, especially with a fine second-half save from Fotis Ioannidis with the score 1-0.

Irish win

The night’s other tie in League B3 saw Evan Ferguson’s goal and a superb penalty save from Caoimhin Kelleher help the Republic of Ireland to a 1-0 win over Finland in Dublin.

Finland were twice denied by the woodwork before Ferguson headed in from a Mikey Johnston cross on the stroke of half-time.

The visitors were pushing for a deserved leveller when they were awarded a 77th-minute penalty after a VAR check for a handball by Ferguson.

Kelleher dived to his right to keep out Joel Pohjanpalo’s spot-kick and then got up to save Robin Lod’s shot from the rebound.

England’s win against Greece means the Republic will finish third in Group B2 and face a play-off next year while Finland are relegated.

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