England started their UEFA Nations League campaign with a 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland on Saturday evening.
UEFA Nations League
Result: Republic of Ireland 2-0 England
Date: 07 September 2024
Venue: Aviva Stadium
Harry Maguire and Jack Grealish were back in the Three Lions' starting line-up in Lee Carsley's first match, while Anthony Gordon joined Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane in the attack.
Grealish and Declan Rice were the main talking points due to their previous links with the Irish national team, before they ended up switching to the Three Lions.
The boos did not affect Rice, who silenced the home crowd on 12 minutes with a lovely first-time finish in the box after Kane's initial strike was blocked in the box.
It got worse for the Irish fans on 26 minutes when Grealish added his name to the score-sheet by finishing a cut-back from Rice with a lovely finish to double the away side's lead.
The home side were a lot more livelier after the halftime and they nearly pulled one back in the 59th minute when Chiedozie Ogbene did well to pick out Sammie Szmodics, who sent his first-time strike inches wide.
In an attempt to claw back the deficit, Ireland made a double change after 73 minutes when Kasey McAteer and Alan Browne replaced Adam Idah and Will Smallbone.
England responded with a double change of their own for the final 14 minutes as Angel Gomes and Morgan Gibbs-White came on for their national team debut in place of Grealish and Kobbie Main.
The Three Lions managed to see out the closing stages with relative ease to pick up maximum points against their rivals.
England will be back at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday when they host Finland, while Ireland take on Greece at the same venue in Dublin.
