The English national team has given interim coach Lee Carsley a successful debut. In the first game after losing the European Championship final against Spain, the Three Lions beat Ireland 2-0 (2-0) at the start of the Nations League in Dublin. The former Irish international Carsley took over the coaching position in England as an interim solution after Gareth Southgate resigned.
Declan Rice scored the first goal for the English team, including captain Harry Kane from FC Bayern Munich, in the 11th minute. A quarter of an hour later, Jack Grealish increased the lead to 2-0. Grealish was not selected for the European Championship by former coach Southgate, but the offensive player is back in the starting line-up under Carsley.
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Both goalscorers, like Carsley, played for Ireland when they were young. This led to protests against the footballers in Dublin’s stadium. A fan banner showed the faces of Rice and Grealish next to the words: “The snakes are back.” During the game, the English players wore black armbands in honor of their coach, Sven-Göran Eriksson, who died at the end of August. The Swede was coach of the English national team from 2001 to 2006.
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Former Munich player Joshua Zirkzee gave the clearly superior hosts an early lead on his debut in the starting eleven in Eindhoven when he headed on a cross from Leipzig’s Xavi Simons (12′). A “German” co-production provided the surprising equaliser: After a pass from Cologne’s Denis Huseinbajic, Stuttgart’s Ermedin Demirovic scored (27′).
Then Oranje were unlucky at first: After a great one-two with Zirkzee, Tijjani Reijnders hit the crossbar (42′). In stoppage time of the first half, the AC Milan midfielder did better and scored the well-deserved 2-1 again with a pass from Zirkzee (45’+2). Reijnders was the brilliant assist for Cody Gakpo’s 3-1 (56′). Edin Dzeko used the visitors’ second chance to score the second goal (73′). Substitute Wout Weghorst (88′) and Simons (90’+2) finally decided the match.
