Captain Harry Kane hailed Lee Carsley after England rounded off the interim manager’s stint in charge with a record 5-0 win over the Republic of Ireland at Wembley and promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League.
Kane, Anthony Gordon, Conor Gallagher, Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis all scored in a 26-minute second-half spell to guarantee England top spot in Nations League Group B2, ahead of Greece on head-to-head goals.
“I think he’s been top drawer, him and all the staff,” said Kane. “After the Euros it was never going to be easy to come and go straight into the Nations League and sometimes the motivation is a bit less but they showed great energy.
“I’m really glad we won today and we can finish off happy. It has been a really good camp and two tough games. We got the job done in Greece and again here. It was a tough first half but we came out with more energy and we finished it off.”
Carsley will now resume his post as England Under-21 manager after his six-game run keeping the set warm for the incoming Thomas Tuchel but says the experience has whetted his appetite for a similar role.
“It was a good performance,” he said. “It’s given my staff and myself the confidence that we could do the job. Trust from my bosses has been a massive boost of confidence. The main thing is what we’ve done and we’ve got promotion.”
Ireland frustrated England in the first half but the match turned early in the second period, when Liam Scales tripped Jude Bellingham, earned a second yellow card and allowed Kane to open the scoring from the penalty spot.
From then on the hosts prised apart Ireland’s 10 men with ease. Gordon doubled the lead with a smart volley just two minutes later and Gallagher made it three moments after that when he poked in at a corner.
Bowen smashed the fourth through a crowd from the edge of the box with his first touch before fellow substitute Taylor Harwood-Bellis, making his senior international debut, planted a header past Caoimhin Kelleher to seal England’s biggest ever win in this fixture.
Greece won 2-0 in Finland to finish level on 15 points with England, but 4-2 worse off in goals between the teams. The Republic of Ireland were already sure to come third, with pointless Finland bottom of the group.
