Ireland and England may not have played each other much in recent years, but the rivalry remains as bitter as ever. Both sets of fans were eager to win the bragging rights in this Nations League clash, but especially the Irish, whose last win over England was all the way back in 1988. Ray Houghton was the sole goal scorer on that occasion – a man who probably doesn’t have to buy his own Guinness ever again.
This was the 12th competitive meeting between Ireland and England, who last met back in 2020 behind closed doors. The Three Lions came out on top 3-0 on that occasion, and anything but an England victory in Dublin would have been seen as quite the shock. Tonybet follows all the current football fixtures, so sign up now so you don’t miss a trick!
That’s because both nations are in completely different places right now. England reached the Euros final in the summer, losing 2-1 against Spain, while Ireland is currently looking to rebuild under their new Icelandic manager – more on him later.
Two ex-Irish internationals secure the victory
Sadly, it wasn’t to be Heimir Hallgrímsson’s day, as two ex-Irish internationals came back to Dublin to prove the difference. Declan Rice and Jack Grealish, who both previously represented Ireland, scored for England in the first half to record a 2-0 victory.
Arsenal midfielder Rice pounced on a loose ball inside the box to slot home his strike into the top right-hand corner. No celebration followed, but the damage had already been done to his relationship with the Irish crowd, who didn’t hold back on their opinions of him.
To make matters worse for the hosts, Manchester City’s Jack Grealish was next to get on the scoresheet – this time Rice was on hand to assist the goal. You couldn’t make it up as the former Aston Villa captain showed great composure to lash the ball into the bottom corner on the 26th-minute mark.
The first half was a disaster for Hallgrímsson’s side, who almost found themselves 3-0 down when Harry Kane felt as though he was brought down inside the box. Fortunately for the home crowd, neither the referee nor VAR were interested.
With the damage done inside the first 45 minutes, England came out for the second half and dominated possession without being threatened by the hosts.
The Three Lions finished the match with 72% possession, and also fired 17 shots at Caoimhin Kelleher’s goal. Ireland only tested Jordan Pickford once across the entire 90 minutes.
A number of late changes for the visitors slowed the game down entirely, though Jarrod Bowen will be frustrated that his strike from six yards was miscued and spurned a huge opportunity to put the cherry on top for Lee Carsley’s senior managerial debut.
There’s work to do for Ireland, but it was business as usual for England, who looked in complete control throughout the match.
The first test for Hallgrímsson
This was meant to be the start of a new dawn for Ireland – and although facing England was always going to be tough, a lack of change or new ideas only frustrated the Irish fans.
Under the previous two managers, a back-five system was preferred with a two-man midfield. This only held back any kind of progression, and going forward, change is required in order to get Ireland back on track.
Yet Hallgrímsson didn’t change that formation. Admittedly, the new manager has only had a limited amount of time with his squad, and coming up against the Euro 2024 finalists was never going to be the game to realistically change their current fortunes.
Ireland started with a high tempo, but Rice’s early goal quickly put an end to that. Time and time again, Hallgrímsson’s side were cut open far too easily, and on another day, England could have easily put three or four past Kelleher. His players let him down, and as a whole, the team looked rather disjointed against one of the best teams in Europe.
With limited time before Ireland’s clash with Greece, the former Iceland coach may look to tinker with his starting XI. Everton’s Jake O’Brien looks to be the obvious choice after his solid performance in the heart of the defence when coming on with 33 minutes of the match remaining.
It’s early days for the new manager, but Hallgrímsson needs to find an XI that can win football matches. His no-nonsense interviews and approach will win over the fans, but only for so long if his team continues to fall short on the pitch.
Carsley masterclass: a refreshing approach as the Three Lions win
Carsley impressed during his time as Under 21 head coach with England, and with Gareth Southgate resigning from his post, he was the obvious choice while the English FA continues to look for a long-term solution.
However, the way that Carsley set up his team and carved open Ireland will have people wondering whether he is the man to take the job on a permanent basis.
A more fluid England side with new faces in the starting XI saw the visitors express themselves far more than fans had been used to watching under Southgate.
Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold offered England a different dimension, and it was his menacing ball that kick-started England’s attack for the first goal. Grealish, who was left out of England’s Euro 2024 squad, started under Carsley, who allowed the Man City midfielder to express himself and be more creative.
England fans have been desperate to see more of Everton’s Anthony Gordon, who had a solid game on the left wing. Gordon, Bukayo Saka and Kane looked like an exciting trio who are likely to start against Finland on Tuesday evening.
Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, who featured heavily for Carsley at Under 21 level, was given his official senior debut in the 76th minute, becoming the first Forest player to represent England since Stuart Pearce back in 1997.
With Southgate out of the picture, Carsley offered a refreshing performance that England fans have craved for quite some time. Another performance similar to this one against Finland and he’ll give the FA a tough decision to make about whether he is given the job full-time.
No time to rest as round two approaches
Ireland has little to no time to feel sorry for themselves as Greece head to Dublin for round two in the Nations League.
Their next opponents comfortably beat Finland 3-0 in Piraeus, showing how dangerous they are in the final third as well as restricting their opponents to zero shots on target. This will be yet another tough test for Hallgrímsson.
England returns to Wembley, where Carsley’s side will host Finland. These two nations haven’t met since 2001, but nothing less than a routine victory for the Three Lions will be expected.
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