Greece 0 England 3: Three Lions run riot in Athens to take control of group as Curtis Jones nets debut goal

NO imperishable manager, nary skipper successful the starting line-up and precious fewer elder players bothering to crook up.

And yet it was nary sweat for England to regain power of their Nations League radical and summation revenge for past month’s Wembley embarrassment. 

It was a nighttime erstwhile interim brag Lee Carsley placed his spot successful respective of his ain Under-21 European champions - and gave Thomas Tuchel plentifulness of nutrient for thought. 

Why Tuchel wasn’t successful the dug-out eden unsocial knows, and wherefore helium wasn’t successful the Greek superior to ticker is besides a mystery. 

But portion the German enjoys his sabbatical, Carsley enjoyed the champion nighttime of his little reign - conscionable erstwhile the cards each seemed stacked against him. 

He made a large telephone successful starting skipper Harry Kane connected the bench, past watched his replacement Ollie Watkins container an aboriginal opener earlier an ain extremity from keeper Odysseas Valshodimos and a saccharine onslaught from debutant Curtis Jones earned a convincing victory.   

And each this aft a twelve members of his squad were ruled retired done injuries, genuine oregon otherwise. 

That 3rd extremity created by Morgan Gibbs-White and finished by Liverpool midfielder Jones had Carsley’s signature stamped each implicit it.

And different subordinate of Carsley’s triumphant Under-21s from past twelvemonth - Noni Madueke - was the champion subordinate connected the pitch, creating Watkins’s opener with gait and intelligence. 

A fewer weeks ago, we were wondering whether ‘Carsball’ was England’s answer. Now that it’s been discarded, we started wondering again. 

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England request lone to bushed Ireland astatine Wembley connected Sunday to triumph the radical and unafraid promotion to the Nations League apical tier.

And Tuchel present has plentifulness of choices to marque betwixt Gareth Southgate’s aged defender and Carsley’s young thrusters. 

Kane had netted 86 per cent of the goals scored by this full England squad - 68 from a full of 79 - truthful it was surely a bold telephone from Carsley to seat him.

And this had looked similar astir apt the weakest starting XI England had fielded for a competitory fixture successful surviving memory. 

Facing Greece seems to bring retired the unconventional successful England’s interim manager.

Carsley appeared to suffer his Elgin marbles with the tactical brainstorm which led to past month’s embarrassing 2-1 location decision against the aforesaid opposition. 

On that night, Kane was injured and Carsley played without an authentic centre-forward - present helium simply preferred the gait of Watkins to the nous and people of Kane. 

And wrong 7 minutes, his boldness was rewarded with an fantabulous squad goal. 

Madueke was the architect, archetypal with a back-heel which took retired left-back Kostas Tsimikas, past aft he’d collected a instrumentality walk from Jude Bellingham, the Chelsea antheral reached the byeline and chopped backmost with his close ft for Watkins to slot home. 

Carsley had fielded a beforehand 3 blessed with explicit gait and Anthony Gordon was besides causing fuss for the Greeks aboriginal on, cutting wrong and having a almighty changeable deflected wide for a corner.   

German ref Daniel Siebert - a convicted match-fixer - got busy, booking Bellingham and Conor Gallagher successful speedy succession past handing Jordan Pickford the archetypal yellowish paper of his England vocation for wasting an extraordinarily abbreviated magnitude of clip astatine a goal-kick. 

This was the archetypal sell-out for an planetary shot lucifer astatine the 70,000-capacity Olympic Stadium but a assemblage which had started disconnected successful bully dependable was being lulled by the composed power exerted by this patchwork England side.  

Finally, the Greeks began to endanger and, aft a accelerated interruption down the left, Tsimikas had a fierce changeable beaten distant by Pickford astatine his adjacent post. 

There was plentifulness of neat midfield play from Bellingham and Gallagher but England were little of a menace arsenic the archetypal fractional progressed - although, successful injury-time, Rico Lewis released Watkins, who mislaid his footing erstwhile he’d looked a bully stake to score.  

Ezri Konsa was limping heavy astatine the extremity of the fractional and was replaced astatine half-time by debutant Lewis Hall - Walker switching to cardinal defence and Lewis moving to right-back. 

England were soon backmost connected the beforehand ft with Madueke afloat of devilment. 

The Chelsea winger toasted Tsimikas and chopped backmost for Lewis to person a changeable blocked by keeper Odysseas Vlachodimos. 

Then aft the resulting corner, Madueke centred for Bellingham to caput against the backmost stick.  

Greece retained a threat, though, and erstwhile Gallagher mislaid possession, Fotos Ionnidis forced a decent prevention from Pickford. 

Carsley past withdrew his beforehand three, introducing Kane, Jarrord Bowen and debutant Morgan Rogers. Madueke’s withdrawal was a unusual decision, arsenic helium had shown small motion of easing up. 

Still, Kane soon had a long-ranger saved by Vlachodimos and past Rogers played a cardinal relation successful England’s 2nd goal. 

The Villa antheral played a chill walk connected the crook to merchandise Bellingham, who charged guardant and pinged a changeable against the wrong of the station which cannoned successful disconnected the prone Greek keeper, crossing the enactment earlier Gallagher could assertion a touch. 

The 3rd was a peach - a nutmeg walk from Bowen, a cut-back from Gibbs-White and a cute decorativeness from Jones with a flick of his heel. 

Suddenly, it felt arsenic if Carsball wasn’t excessively atrocious astatine all.