Uefa Nations League, League B Group 2: England 5 (Kane 53 P, Gordon 55, Gallagher 58, Bowen 75, Harwood-Bellis 79) Republic of Ireland 0
This is reality. England overwhelmed the Republic of Ireland’s initially brave resistance, scoring five second-half goals to secure promotion to League A in the Uefa Nations League.
Some things remain the same for an Ireland team obsessed with conceding straight after half-time.
The latest lapse in focus ruined a well-structured defensive plan as Liam Scales was sent-off in the 51st minute, following his second yellow card, for tripping Jude Bellingham after a fantastic ball by Harry Kane ripped open the Irish defence.
Scales’ first yellow was for kicking the ball away.
Kane converted his 69th international goal. Caoimhín Kelleher dived to the right, as he had done to save a penalty from Finland’s Joel Pohjanpalo last Thursday, which invited the England captain to roll his spot kick into the opposite corner.
Before Ireland could reorganise, Anthony Gordon volleyed the second goal to reward Tino Livramento for skinning Sammie Szmodics down the right. Livramento’s cross was helped on by a double ricochet off Nathan Collins and Josh Cullen.
England bagged a third during a nightmarish five-minute spell for Ireland when Marc Guéhi flicked on Noni Mandueke’s corner for Conor Gallagher to finish from close range.
Heimir Hallgrímsson looked as shell-shocked as the muted 5,000 Irish fans down the other end of Wembley’s vast arena. Eventually the green army mustered a rendition of the Fields of Athenry that was quickly drowned-out by the majority of the 79,969 crowd.
England were not done; a training ground move exposed another Irish weakness when Jarrod Bowen scored with a shot from outside the box.
England’s interim manager Lee Carsley ran the bench with Taylor Harwood-Bellis scoring a header on his debut to make it 5-0.
Thump after thump after thump. Carsley returns to the England under-21s, handing over to Thomas Tuchel while Ireland go into a relegation play-off draw next Friday to face a runner-up from League C next March.
The opening 45 minutes ended with a frank exchange of views between Irish and English players that prompted Belgian referee Erik Lambrechts to flash yellows at Kane and Jayson Molumby.
It had been a tasty opening stanza with Scales and Madueke also booked in what could be framed as an even contest.
Sure, England had 71 per cent possession, but Ireland held their own, winning plenty of individual duels as a squad mostly made up of second tier English club players got stuck into the English galacticos.
The preamble was almost as interesting as Hallgrímsson’s surprise formation. Before Collins settled into his new life as a holding midfielder, in front of Mark McGuinness and Scales, the teams were welcomed on to the Wembley surface by various regiments of the British Army.
Both associations can expect letters from Uefa after Amhrán na bhFiann and God Save The King were roundly booed. Last September, after England beat Ireland 2-0 in Dublin, the FAI were fined €10,000 and the FA €12,500 (the extra €2,500 as they are repeat offenders) for similar behaviour.
A plume of dark smoke rising from the Irish section could also see a repeat fine of €9,250. Incidentally, over 2,500 tickets were returned by the FAI. Nonetheless, early on, the green part of Wembley found its voice.
Collins was also employed as an aerial weapon with O’Shea launching one from kick-off that went over the Brentford defender’s head for an England throw-in. The Irish skipper continued as a target man from restarts as ‘Heimir-Ball’ began to take shape.
Scales’ sending-off overshadowed all the Irish positives, like Festy Ebosele, who has taken to international football like a duck to water. Early on, the Watford wing back-dribbled past Bellingham, Gordon, Lewis Hall and Curtis Jones before Guéhi bodied him out of possession.
England settled into exposing Callum O’Dowda and Szmodics down the left with Madueke almost walking the ball into the net. Worryingly, the Chelsea winger breezed past Josh Cullen but the Irish system was frustrating England.
Collins appeared to be man marking Bellingham or Kane but when one or the other sprinted past him, he handed them off to O’Shea or Scales. Hallgrímsson has used this plan before. As Jamaica manager last year, he moved Damion Lowe into midfield to disrupt Canada and secure qualification to last summer’s Copa América.
Up the other end, Evan Ferguson dropped into pockets, hitting an ambitious 40 yard pass for the electric Ebosele. The 20-year-old striker had a genuine penalty claim on 22 minutes when Guéhi tugged his jersey. Nothing came from VAR as Lambrechts waved play on.
Hallgrímsson spoke beforehand about the “psychology of not having the ball and having the patience to be defending and for a long time”. England had eight shots in the first-half. Ireland had none but they did have their moments.
One in particular was when Scales lined up Kane and landed a feral challenge to send the Irish section of northwest London in a state of euphoria. Again, Lambrechts waved play on.
Molumby could also see the angles, spraying a long ball over Guéhi that required Kyle Walker to be at full stretch to find Jordan Pickford before Szmodics could pounce.
An encouraging Irish start though disintegrated after the break.
ENGLAND: Pickford (Everton); Livramento (Newcastle United), Walker (Manchester City), Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Hall (Newcastle United); Gallagher (Atlético Madrid), Jones (Liverpool); Madueke (Chelsea), Bellingham (Real Madrid), Gordon (Newcastle United); Kane (Bayern Munich). Substitutions: Harwood-Bellis (Southampton) for Walker (62 mins), Rogers (Aston Villa) for Gordon, Bowen (West Ham United) for Madueke, Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur) for Gallagher (all 75), Gomes (Lille) for Curtis (79).
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Kelleher (Liverpool); O’Shea (Ipswich Town), McGuinness (Luton Town), Scales (Celtic), O’Dowda (Cardiff City); Cullen (Burnley), Collins (Brentford), Molumby (West Bromwich Albion); Ebosele (Watford), Ferguson (Brighton and Hove Albion), Szmodics (Ipswich Town). Substitutions: Azaz (Middlesbrough) for O’Dowda, Manning (Southampton) for Ebosele, Parrot (AZ Alkmaar) for Ferguson (all 66 mins), Moran (Stoke City) for Cullen (76), McAteer (Leicester City) for Szmodics (86).
Referee: Erik Lambrechts (Belgium).
