Lee Carsley made a winning start as interim England boss as goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish secured a 2-0 victory over Republic of Ireland in their Nations League opener.
Rice and Grealish struck in the space of 15 first-half minutes to answer the boos of the home fans at the Aviva Stadium for having switched allegiance from Ireland to England as youngsters.
Rice declined to celebrate his goal – slammed home from the centre of the box – but Grealish, back in the team after being omitted from the squad for Euro 2024, enjoyed his moment having found the corner from Rice’s cut-back to cap a slick England move.
England fans hoping to see a more attacking style than under Gareth Southgate could take encouragement from their first-half display, with Harry Kane and the impressive Anthony Gordon also going close and Trent Alexander-Arnold orchestrating proceedings from right-back.
But Ireland, embarking on a new era of their own under new boss Heimir Hallgrimsson, showed improvement after the one-sided first period, with Sammie Szmodics firing a good chance wide after the break having been set up by Chiedozie Ogbene.
England lost their rhythm after half-time but did have chances to extend their lead, with Bukayo Saka denied by Caoimhin Kelleher in stoppage time, by which point Carsley had also handed senior debuts to Angel Gomes and Morgan Gibbs-White from the bench.
In the end, though, the two-goal cushion proved sufficient for England to begin the post-Southgate era with a win that puts them top of Nations League Group B2 having dropped down from League A in the last edition of the competition.
Morgan Gibbs-White featured from the bench
Carsley, a Republic of Ireland international during his playing career, will hope the result quietens the pre-match furore over his decision not to sing England’s national anthem.
Grealish: Euros snub motivated me
England’s Jack Grealish told 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 against Republic of Ireland
“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 expected. I said before the game, it’s different; we have nothing bad 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.
“Obviously, going back to myself – I need to start playing regularly and scoring goals, and that’s what I did today. I didn’t feel 100 per cent fit, fit, but I’m happy.”
Carsley: Grealish has nothing to prove
England interim boss Lee Carsley to ITV Sport:
“They both took their goals really well, they were really well-worked moves and brilliant 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 will have done him the world of good today, and hopefully he can continue that form.
“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 really dry, sticky pitch, Anthony [Gordon] was a real threat. He’s carried on his form from last season and looks a really dangerous player.
“You’ve got to give Ireland credit [for the second half], they were resilient and closed the gaps.
“Our space went a little bit wider and we found it a little bit more difficult to get through them. But at 2-0 we were quite comfortable.”
Keane: England good first half but awful second
Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane on ITV Sport:
“The frustrating thing for today is Ireland were 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.
“Ireland played with a lot of pride in the second half, but as good as England were in the first half, they were as bad in the second half.
“Even with the substitutions, players were strolling off, showing a bit of arrogance.
“There’s a team there for the taking – especially with the attacking players on the pitch, they should be thinking they had a chance to score a goal.”
Hallgrimsson: We were second best
Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson to RTE Sport:
“I’m not afraid to say we were second best in this encounter. I think the lack of initiative, maybe the lack of confidence [disappointed me most].
“I think it showed that England are coming back from a good Euro and a good U21 tournament where the players felt like everything they did would succeed.
Anthony Gordon challenges Seamus Coleman
“Compared to us, we were a little bit more passive, not anticipating in defence and then, when we had the chance to cross or shoot, we didn’t take it.
“We are unhappy with the goals we conceded. We had openings and good positions to do better. We could have scored the first goal in the game and maybe that would have changed the game.
“But the quality from England deserved the win and the good thing we can take from it is that it was a good team we played against. They exposed a lot of our weaknesses but we can find a lot of clips to work on and improve in the future. That is my job, Just face what happened and go on.”