Lee Carsley made a profitable begin as interim England boss as objectives from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish secured a 2-0 victory over Republic of Eire of their Nations League opener.
Rice and Grealish struck within the area of 15 first-half minutes to reply the boos of the house followers on the Aviva Stadium having switched allegiance from Eire to England as younger gamers.
Rice declined to rejoice his objective, slammed house from the centre of the field, however Grealish, again within the workforce after being omitted from the squad for Euro 2024, loved his second having discovered the nook from Rice’s cut-back to cap a slick England transfer.
England followers hoping to see a extra attacking fashion than beneath Gareth Southgate might take encouragement from their first-half show, with Harry Kane and the spectacular Anthony Gordon additionally going shut and Trent Alexander-Arnold orchestrating proceedings from right-back.
However Eire, embarking on a brand new period of their very own beneath new boss Heimir Hallgrimsson, confirmed enchancment after the one-sided first interval, with Sammie Szmodics firing a superb probability large after the break having been arrange by Chiedozie Ogbene.
England, though not as dominant after half-time, did have possibilities to increase their lead, with Bukayo Saka denied by Caoimhin Kelleher in stoppage time, by which level Carsley had additionally handed senior debuts to Angel Gomes and Morgan Gibbs-White from the bench.
In the long run, although, the two-goal cushion proved adequate for England, who kick off the post-Southgate period with a win which places them prime of Nations League Group B2 having dropped down from League A within the final version of the competitors.
Jack Grealish doubles England’s lead in opposition to Republic of Eire
