ENGLAND 5, REPUBLIC OF IRELAND 0
Lee Carsley’s impressive legacy, as his reign as England’s interim head coach came to an end, was sealing promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League.
And Carsley clinched his fifth win in six games in temporary charge in style as England defeated the Republic of Ireland 5-0.
After a dour goalless opening period, the second half exploded to life when Ireland had Liam Scales sent off for conceding the penalty which presented Harry Kane with his 69th international goal.
The 10 men from the Emerald Isle caved in as Anthony Gordon and Conor Gallagher made it three goals inside six magical minutes, both with their first international goals.
Later substitutes Jarrod Bowen, with his first touch, and Taylor Harwood-Bellis, on his debut, added further goals in the five-star second-half performance.
It was also the first time since 1930 that four players had scored their first international goals in the same match and England’s biggest-ever win in an international which had been goalless at the break.
With 16 goals scored in six games and eight players making their debuts, Carsley appears to be handing over England to Thomas Tuchel in a very good place.
Carsley said: “It was a good performance. I thought the way we started the game was good and we played with real intensity. It was frustrating to come off 0-0 at half-time but I had the belief that we would score the goals.
“It was a great evening for a lot of players and the main thing was getting promotion. That was the main thing we said we wanted to do so that was pleasing.”
Asked what his overriding feeling was at the end of his spell in his charge, Carsley said “relief” and added: “I wanted the England team to be exciting to watch and be attacking. I see them day in day out on the training ground and now we’ve seen it.
“I can only do what I was in control of. It’s not a gamble with some of these players, they are excellent players, they want to overcome anything in front of them and at the under-21s they have had an expectation of winning.
“It [his spell in charge] has given myself and the staff the confidence that we can do the job. You always doubt whether you can do the job, and there’s a lot of people in their homes picking the squad and picking the team.
“The trust from my bosses has been a massive boost of confidence.”
Kane said: “It was a really important win for us. It has been a really good camp and two tough games. We got the job done in Greece and again here. It was a tough first half, but we came out with more energy and we finished it off.
Embed from Getty Images“We spoke about new opportunities for new lads and they’ve shown why they are here and a couple of good finishes. It was nice for Jarrod [Bowen] too to come on and score straight away.
“Thomas [Tuchel] has a lot of players to choose from. A lot of young players that have come in and done well and some more experienced players that are injured and will be looking to come back so there’s a good balance. I’m sure he [Tuchel] will be looking at everyone.”
On Carsley’s impact as interim boss, Kane said: “He has been top drawer, him and all the staff. After the Euros it was never going to be easy to come and go straight into the Nations League and sometimes the motivation is a bit less.
“I’m really glad we won today and finish off on a high.”
Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson described it as “six minutes of madness” saying his players lost their heads and it was an “embarrassing” loss.
Carsley made three changes for his final match as England interim head coach.
Kyle Walker moved to centre back, Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall were given their first starts while Kane came in for Ollie Watkins.
It was also three changes for the Republic of Irelandas Mark McGuinness came in for his debut.
England began on the front foot and created two clear-cut chances in the opening five minutes as Curtis Jones’ drive was deflected over for a corner.
And from Noni Madueka’s dead ball, Walker’s bullet near-post header narrowly cleared the crossbar.
It soon became clear, though, that England would have their work cut out to pierce a well-disciplined Ireland defence in what was effectively a 4-5-1 line-up with little space separating the banks of defenders and midfielders.
And it was a measure of the boredom of fans that paper aeroplanes started to land on the pitch as the opening period reached its latter stages.
There was also a spate of bookings in the final minutes – Madueka, Jude Bellingham and Kane for England along with Ireland’s Liam Scales and Jayson Molumby. Bellingham missed England’s next international through suspension.
The stats underlined the lack of entertainment in the opening half as neither side had a goal attempt that hit the target or required a save.
A moment of magic was needed to break the deadlock and Kane provided that within six minutes of the restart with a brilliant diagonal pass from near the left touchline to release Bellingham who was clean through only to be brought down by Scales who was dismissed for his second booking.
Kane stepped up to send Liverpool keeper Caoimhin Kelleher the wrong way for his 69th goal for England.
It signalled the opening of the floodgates as England scored two further goals within five minutes through Gordon and Gallagher, each with their first senior goals.
A cross from Livramento was not cleared and the ball ricocheted to Gordon who fired home a low shot at the far post from seven yards.
Two quickly became three when Madueka’s corner was met by Marc Guehi’s glancing header which Gallagher converted at the fat post from almost on the goalline.
Carsley then made his first change as Walker was replaced by former Manchester City centre back Harwood-Bellis who now plays for Southampton as he made his debut.
That was soon followed by a further three changes as Gallagher, Gordon and Madueke made way for Dominic Solanke, Morgan Rogers and Bowen.
And Bowen scored with his first touch firing home from a well-executed free kick routine firing past the helpless Kelleher, the assist supplied by Bellingham.
England’s final change saw Curtis Jones replaced by ex-Manchester United player Angel Gomes who now plays in France for Lille.
And it was 5-0 by the 79th minute when Harwood-Bellis marked his debut with a goal as he headed home Bellingham’s cross.
Late on Kelleher made decent saves from Kane and Bowen to prevent Ireland from losing from an even heavier margin.