Nations League League B Group 2: Republic of Ireland 0 England 2 (Rice 12, Grealish 26)
Imagine the worst script possible for the Republic of Ireland versus England in Dublin.
It took 26 minutes for the superiority of Lee Carsley’s outfit to manifest itself in the shape of goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish, who both have played for Ireland at underage levels, with Rice also collecting three senior caps.
Rice refused to celebrate. Grealish almost jumped into the English supporters down the Havelock Square end.
“My nan and grandad on my dad’s side of the family are all Irish,” said Rice. “I think to have celebrated would have been really disrespectful of me, with them obviously not being here any more.”
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The non-celebration celebration from a former Ireland international only served to further infuriate the home crowd. It felt disingenuous.
“[The reception] was what me and Dec expected,” said Grealish. “We have nothing bad to say, we both enjoyed our time playing here and I’ve a lot of Irish in my family so there is no bad blood.”
Boos from the 50,359 attendance were eventually replaced by 3,000 visitors chanting The Great Escape theme tune.
This was far removed from England performances at Euro 2024. The injection of Anthony Gordon and Grealish brought a different dimension to their attack, while Rice dominated midfield.
It helped immeasurably that Ireland under new manager Heimir Hallgrímsson invited them on, refusing or unable to play possession football.
The day had started so well. Carsley, the interim England manager with 40 Ireland caps, laid out the cones before his players trotted on to the sun-kissed Lansdowne grass. It was a far cry from his debut “on a horrendous, waterlogged rugby” field in 1997.
Same patch, different surface.
As the Aviva throbbed to the sound of U2 and Aslan, a massive Jack Charlton banner was unfurled, reading: “Thank You For The Days”, down the south end.
Irish people serenading an England World Cup winner from 1966 caught most visitors on the hop.
The old ground was alive. A handshake between Séamus Coleman and Harry Kane in the tunnel. A large man in full England kit made it to the red carpet, standing beside Gordon until security dragged him away.
Uachtarán na hÉireann Michael D Higgins gave a hearty welcome to Grealish while Rice gave the president a two-handed shake. Respect.
Both anthems were roundly booed by the opposing fans.
Inside 100 seconds Jayson Molumby bounced off Grealish. From the resulting Robbie Brady corner, Molumby’s snap header cleared the England crossbar. That was the Ireland chance.
Gordon began to expose Coleman, his first cross clearing everyone, but Trent Alexander-Arnold returned a lovely ball for Kane. The Bayern Munich striker headed over the bar.
Sammie Szmodics’s effort from outside the box in the 11th minute was parried by Jordan Pickford into the path of Chiedozie Ogbene who hesitated and allowed England to recover.
That was the last real Irish opportunity as Alexander-Arnold pinged a 40m pass for Gordon. Despite an excellent Caoimhín Kelleher save and Nathan Collins blocking Kane’s follow-up, Rice pounced. Top corner. One-nil. Will Smallbone had lost his man.
Another miraculous Kelleher save denied Kane, as Rice kept sending Gordon on raids down the left. Only 15 minutes gone, and England were threatening a blowout.
The problem is well known. Ireland could not string three passes together, which continually invited counterattacks from Gordon, and that’s before Bukayo Saka found his rhythm wide on the right.
Statistics midway through the first-half told a story: England had 78 per cent possession and 92 per cent passing accuracy from 209 attempts. Ireland only managed to complete 147 passes over the 90 minutes for 70 per cent accuracy.
The atmosphere fell off a cliff when Rice created the second goal, expertly finished by Grealish.
The England midfielder cut through a thicket of green shirts, exchanging rapid one-twos with Kobbie Mainoo and Saka before a square ball helped revive Grealish’s international career. Playing through the middle as a roaming number 10, the 28-year-old shot under three Irish bodies, again giving Kelleher no hope.
There was little evidence of this being a contest between Premier League equals. Ireland started with eight players from the English top-flight, as Robbie Brady and Molumby earn a living in the second tier and Adam Idah at Celtic. England started with 10 and Kane, from the Bundesliga.
Something, anything, was needed from Ireland and Chiedozie Ogbene tried his best to come up with something, taking Mainoo on a 30m sprint down the left, only to clip the cross over Idah and Szmodics.
The second half was a non-event besides Coleman limping off on 57 minutes following a clash with Harry Maguire.
When Ireland finally switched the play, Dara O’Shea picking out Ogbene, and Jason Knight darted to the front post, Ogbene found Szmodics in a similar position to where Grealish had scored. The Ipswich Town attacker missed the target.
“A player of my quality should hit the target,” admitted Szmodics.
Greece come to Dublin on Tuesday, having beaten Finland 3-0 on Saturday in Athens, with Irish confidence on the floor.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Kelleher (Liverpool); Doherty (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Coleman (Everton), O’Shea (Ipswich Town), Collins (Brentford), Brady (Preston North End); Smallbone (Southampton), Molumby (West Bromwich Albion); Ogbene (Ipswich Town), Idah (Celtic), Szmodics (Ipswich Town). Subs: O’Brien (Everton) for Coleman, Knight (Bristol City) for Doherty (both 57 mins); Alan Browne (Sunderland) for Smallbone, McAteer (Leicester City) for Idah (both 75); Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion) for Brady (82).
ENGLAND: Pickford (Everton); Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Maguire (Manchester United), Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Colwill (Chelsea); Rice (Arsenal), Mainoo (Manchester United); Saka (Arsenal), Grealish (Manchester City), Gordon (Newcastle United); Kane (Bayern Munich). Subs: Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest) for Grealish, Eze (Crystal Palace) for Gordon, Gomes (Lille) for Mainoo (all 77 mins); Bowen (West Ham United) for Kane, Stones (Manchester City for Maguire (both 85).
Referee: José María Sánchez (Spain).
