England 3-0 Republic of Ireland: Jack Grealish shines in Wembley friendly win

England geared up for their UEFA Nations League double-header in style with a convincing 3-0 friendly win over Republic of Ireland at Wembley.

The build-up to Thursday’s encounter – like many of England’s fixtures this calendar year – was overshadowed by events off the field following the resignation of Greg Clarke from his roles as FA chairman and FIFA vice-president, but the result was a formality from the moment Harry Maguire headed the hosts in front (18).

Jadon Sancho doubled England’s lead with a precise finish (31) before Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s penalty following a foul by Cyrus Christie on Bukayo Saka (56) completed a routine win for Gareth Southgate’s men.

England took their foot off the gas in the final 30 minutes and declared on three to claim a first win over Republic of Ireland since 1985 ahead of a crucial UEFA Nations League conclusion, with the trip to face Belgium on Saturday before facing Iceland back at Wembley next week.

England finally overcome Ireland
Southgate suffered a blow on the eve of the match with Joe Gomez ruled out after suffering a serious knee injury in a training session at St George’s Park, with the Liverpool defender now facing a race against time to be fit for Euro 2020. But a comfortable night was precisely what the England manager needed.

Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny insisted he did not feel cursed after Aaron Connolly was ruled out with a hamstring injury on the same day West Brom frontman Callum Robinson tested positive for coronavirus, before James McCarthy withdrew due to ‘family reasons’.

For the past 32 years, England and Republic of Ireland had been unable to beat each other across five draws, but the hosts began brightly as Mason Mount’s near-post corner was flicked on by Sancho and headed over at the far post by Tyrone Mings after just six minutes.

Ireland arrived at Wembley having scored just one goal in five games, and they bared their teeth for the first time moments later when after Daryl Horgan’s initial cross was blocked by Michael Keane, his second attempt fizzed invitingly across goal.

The visitors suffered an early blow when John Egan was forced off with a head injury, and Saka was then denied a maiden strike for his country when Reece James’ teasing cross led to Christie colliding with Darren Randolph but the West Ham goalkeeper recovered to thwart the Arsenal teenager. No matter.

After Ireland failed to fully clear the ensuing corner from Mount, Harry Winks was afforded time to pick out Maguire, who rose above Shane Duffy to plant his header into the corner. The opener was Maguire’s second goal for England – and he came close to a third when his header from another wicked Mount delivery forced Randolph into a fingertip save.

Kenny’s side looked dazed as England threatened to run riot. Jack Grealish picked out the irrepressible Mount on the edge of the box but his low shot was blocked. Grealish then combined with James down the right, and his cut-back was met by Calvert-Lewin, forcing Duffy to throw his body in front of the shot.

Grealish and Mount were competing to steal the show in a vibrant opening that was then spiced by a second after 31 minutes. Christie was hounded into surrendering possession as Winks seized on the loose ball, allowing Grealish to drive forward and set up Sancho, who adjusted his stride to ensure maximum impact with his left foot, calmly placing the ball between the legs of Jeff Hendrick and into the bottom corner.

The same pair almost combined for a third as Christie raced across to block Sancho’s shot as the half ended with another Grealish cross begging to be converted but England went into the break two ahead. Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane, in his role as ITV pundit, feared that it „could get messy“ for his countrymen if they failed to tighten up.

But four minutes into the restart, Grealish combined with his club-mate Mings as the Aston Villa defender showed his awareness to release Saka with a devilish flick but the Arsenal wing-back poked his shot wide of the near post. England were enjoying their night’s work as Saka turned provider but his cross was flicked off the head of Calvert-Lewin by Matt Doherty.

The Everton striker wouldn’t be denied his second England goal, however. Mount found Mings through traffic before Christie dangled a foot at Saka inside the box leaving referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande with no option but to point to the spot. Calvert-Lewin, in the absence of Harry Kane, took responsibility to finish emphatically into the top corner.

A raft of substitutions failed to stem the tide towards Randolph’s goal as Saka’s inviting set-piece deserved the finishing touch from Maguire, but he flicked wide from close range. It took 72 minutes for Ireland to muster a shot of any note as Dean Henderson, on for Nick Pope at the interval, was called into action to keep out Alan Browne’s snap-shot with his right boot.

That preceded Jude Bellingham’s introduction to become the third-youngest player after Theo Walcott and Wayne Rooney to play for England – aged 17 years and 136 days. It was the final foot note on an impressive night’s work for Southgate’s youthful team.

What the managers said
England boss Gareth Southgate: „It was an important experience for seven of the players. We knew that we had three experienced centre-backs and goalkeeper and that was important to give stability to the team.

„In front of that, we weren’t physically as strong as we sometimes are but we had good technicians. The two midfield players used the ball really well and their combinations with the wing-backs and the three forwards were at times really exciting.

„We got players in between the lines turning and running at their defence. We weren’t tested defensively as much as we might have been but we created a lot of good opportunities and used the ball really well.“
Republic of Ireland boss Stephen Kenny: „I think we were beaten 3-0, we are disappointed to lose the game but we can’t complain really about anything.

„We can’t complain about the result in any way, shape or form but we are disappointed with the goals we conceded. The first one hurt us because we had started reasonably OK – we started well enough.

„The fact we went two down was disappointing and we gave ourselves a lot to do once that happened. England were very good, their system is interesting and they played well.“

Man of the match – Jack Grealish

Grealish made 19 appearances for Republic of Ireland under-age teams before eventually pledging his allegiance to England. At 25, Southgate appears to now finally appreciate the midfielder’s unique talents.

Grealish has been involved in 12 goals in 11 appearances in all competitions for club and country so far this season, scoring five and assisting seven.

He enjoyed an excellent and industrious evening, and the Villa playmaker told ITV: „I know I could’ve scored myself and assisted more, but hopefully I’ve saved it for when it really matters.

„Training with these guys, it just steps up everything in your game – watching how Harry (Kane) and Raheem (Sterling) and Jordan (Henderson) train day in, day out, it helps you raise your standards.

„All I can do is try to impress the manager as much as I can. He’s constantly telling me what he wants me to do, so fingers crossed [I’ll play against Belgium].“

Withdrawn after an hour, Southgate had seen enough to be convinced of his worth in the forthcoming Nations League double-header.

Ireland’s goal drought goes on – Opta stats

Soccer Accumulator Bonus

Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.

This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.

The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.

If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:

Bet Type Bonus

14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.

If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.

If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.

Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.

In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.

All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.