It was an England salvo of devastating power, three goals in five minutes early in the second half and it did more than reframe an occasion that had been flat and forgettable up until then. It gave Lee Carsley the win that he wanted on his sixth and final game as the interim manager; one to seal England’s promotion back into the Nations League’s A section. With five wins and just that one off-night against Greece at Wembley, it added up to job well done.
Carsley will hand over to Thomas Tuchel with the team in good health, a new generation also pushed. Carsley had previously given first caps to Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White, Noni Madueke, Curtis Jones, Lewis Hall and Morgan Rogers. Here, there were two more debuts – for Tino Livramento from the outset and Taylor Harwood-Bellis as a substitute.
What a night it would be for both, especially Harwood-Bellis, who scored with a thumping header with one of his first touches from a Jude Bellingham cross. That made it 5-0. Ireland were long since broken, Harry Kane – who else? – precipitating an alarming crash.
Kane was back in the starting XI after his high-profile omission from Thursday’s 3-0 win over Greece in Athens and, after he laboured dreadfully in the first half, it was his sumptuous pass that got Bellingham in to win a penalty off Liam Scales, the Republic of Ireland defender’s woe compounded when the foul was deemed to be a second yellow card offence.
Kane scored from the spot, his 69th England goal in 103 caps. But this was a night for the next wave because it was not just Harwood-Bellis who found the net for the first time at this level. Anthony Gordon, Conor Gallagher and Jarrod Bowen did likewise, Ireland’s 10 men swept aside.
Newcastle’s Livramento provided the cross for his clubmate Gordon to hook home a volley while Gallagher touched home after Marc Guéhi had flicked on a Madueke corner. That completed the flurry for England but they were in no mood to stop, the remorseless Bellingham teeing up Bowen after a well-worked free-kick routine. Bowen had only just come on as a substitute.
The game had been framed in part by the first meeting between the nations in this group in September, when Ireland were disappointing in the 2-0 loss in Dublin. Few England fans expected anything other than victory here and not only because Ireland were depleted by injuries, missing a handful of likely starters. England would have to wait, the first half a virtual write-off from their point of view.
Heimir Hallgrímsson set Ireland up in a 4-5-1 formation, the captain Nathan Collins – a centre-half by trade – sitting in front of the defence. The idea was to be compact, committed, hard to break down.
Madueke, fresh from his barnstorming performance in the win over Greece, had one early run past two green shirts. His pull-back found its way to Curtis Jones, whose shot was deflected over. Kyle Walker headed off target from the corner and the first half descended into stodgy fare. England were slow to move it in possession, the patterns predictable. With 11 men banked behind the ball, Ireland kept Carsley’s team in front of them with ease.
Kane’s toils in the first half were pronounced. It was unfortunate that Bellingham chose to put him in a foot-race with Collins midway through the period, which he was never going to win. Still, it was a bad look. Moments earlier, Kane had failed to control a clipped ball into the area from Hall; it was all so tight. There was a heavy touch from Kane that led to Scales slamming into him to win a showy tackle and the frustrations seemed to bubble over in first-half stoppage time, Kane throwing Jayson Molumby to the ground to incur a yellow card.
Madueke had been booked earlier for a foul on Callum O’Dowda, with Bellingham’s complaints about the decision earning him a yellow card. He was also booked for dissent in Athens and he will be suspended for England’s next game.
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Ireland had shouted loudly for two penalties before the interval, the first when Guéhi had a handful of Evan Ferguson’s shirt as they tussled. The second came when Walker stooped to guide a header back to Jordan Pickford, blocking Sammie Szmodics in the process, who tumbled over. It was risky from Walker. The referee, Erik Lambrechts, did not see enough in either appeal. He could easily have given the first.
That only deepened Ireland’s frustration after the break when England got the penalty to completely turn the game around. Never write off Kane. It has become a truism. It was the captain whose masterpiece of a pass provided the spark, a flat and perfectly calibrated diagonal from the left putting Bellingham up against Scales in the area. He jinked inside; Scales lunged and caught him. When the penalty was awarded, Gordon turned and simply applauded Kane.
Kane did what he does, a little stutter in his run-up before he banged past Caoimhín Kelleher. The red card for Scales was a body blow for Ireland. They would continue to rain down.