DUBLIN: England interim manager Lee Carsley enjoyed a dream debut as goals from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish silenced their Ireland tormentors and inspired a 2-0 win in Saturday’s Nations League opener in Dublin.
Rice and Grealish, who both snubbed Ireland to represent England, scored in the first half of Carsley’s maiden game in charge following Gareth Southgate’s exit.
Southgate quit after England’s heartbreaking Euro 2024 final defeat against Spain in July.
Carsley, who guided England Under-21s to European Championship glory last year, has stepped up on a temporary basis while the Football Association seek a permanent successor to Southgate.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe and former Chelsea manager Graham Potter are said to be among the leading contenders.
But Carsley’s hopes of landing the job himself were boosted by England’s confident display in the Nations League Group B2 victory at the Aviva Stadium.
It was a bold statement of intent from the 50-year-old, whose adventurous England were a far cry from the staid unit that twice finished as Euro runners-up under Southgate despite rarely playing to their potential.
England’s first win in Dublin since 1964 has to be placed in context given the poverty of opposition provided by Ireland
Ireland’s new manager Heimir Hallgrimsson is a qualified dentist and he may find the job of rebuilding his struggling team proves more painful than root canal treatment.
Carsley stuck by his controversial decision not to sing ‘God save the King’ before kick-off, a move that antagonized the more patriotic sections of England’s fanbase.
Birmingham-born Carsley has Irish grandparents, which allowed him to win 40 Ireland caps during his playing career, but he said on Friday that he has never sung a national anthem because he prefers to focus on the match ahead.
If Carsley, whose next game comes against Finland at Wembley on Tuesday, continues to mastermind this kind of eye-catching performance, the debate over his anthem stance will quickly be forgotten.
This was only England’s second trip to Dublin in 29 years after a 1995 friendly between the teams was abandoned when visiting fans rioted at Lansdowne Road.
Promoting “a new era of friendship” between countries with a tortured political past, Irish Taoiseach Simon Harris and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer swapped football shirts ahead of the match.
There was still a hostile reception for Rice and Grealish, who were jeered by the 50,000 crowd for changing their allegiance to England despite representing Ireland at senior and Under-21 levels respectively earlier in their careers.
Neither was bothered by the taunts as Rice starred and Grealish, omitted from the Euro squad, seized the chance to shine as England’s number 10 in the absence of Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden.
Carsley’s nerves were exposed when he mistakenly sat on the Ireland bench before kick-off, but England eased their novice manager’s anxiety in the 11th minute.
Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon, who got just one minute of playing time at the Euros, accelerated onto Trent Alexander-Arnold’s raking pass for a shot that was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.
Gordon worked the rebound back to Harry Kane and his strike deflected to Rice, who planted a fine finish into the top corner from 12 yards.
Rice took the diplomatic approach as he refused to celebrate the goal, instead opting for a placatory gesture that suggested he wanted to bury the hatchet over his England switch.
Playing with far more freedom and imagination than they could muster under Southgate, England struck again in the 26th minute.
After Alexander-Arnold and Kobbie Mainoo exchanged passes, Grealish capped a flowing move, meeting Rice’s cutback with a fine finish into the bottom corner from 10 yards.
There was no hiding Grealish’s delight as he celebrated in front of England’s supporters and put his fingers in his ears to suggest he wasn’t bothered by the Irish abuse.
England had to knuckle down more in the second half as Ireland found some momentum, but they were never in danger of blowing the lead as Carsley’s audition got off to the perfect start.
Carsley makes flying start as England interim boss in win over Ireland
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Carsley makes flying start as England interim boss in win over Ireland
- Rice and Grealish, who both snubbed Ireland to represent England, scored in the first half of Carsley’s maiden game in charge following Gareth Southgate’s exit
- Carsley has stepped up on a temporary basis while the Football Association seek a permanent successor to Southgate
Late Guirassy winner for Dortmund trims Bayern’s lead atop Bundesliga
- A fifth consecutive league victory moved Niko Kovac’s side to 48 points
- The Guinean supplied a fine left-footed finish in the 87th minute to ensure it was a winning return
WOLFSBURG, Germany: A late Serous Guirassy winner settled a tense contest in Wolfsburg as Borussia Dortmund prevailed 2-1 on Saturday to provisionally cut Bayern Munich’s lead at the top of the Bundesliga to three points.
A fifth consecutive league victory moved Niko Kovac’s side to 48 points, within a victory of erstwhile runaway leaders Bayern, who can restore their six-point cushion with victory at in-form Hoffenheim on Sunday.
After a record-breaking start to the season, the champions are winless in their last two games, giving Dortmund the chance to dream of a first title since 2012 with 13 games to go.
It was not a vintage display by Dortmund, who suffered a blow pre-match with the news that captain Emre Can will be sidelined for another month.
But they ground out victory against a Wolfsburg team who have only won once since the turn of the year thanks to goals by Julian Brandt and Guirassy, each side of a Konstantinos Koulierakis leveller for the hosts.
Max Beier almost put Dortmund ahead in the first half but his effort was deflected by Denis Vavro’s last-ditch block onto the underside of the bar.
But the Wolves failed to heed that warning when a few minutes later Dortmund went ahead.
- Pivotal -
Julian Ryerson’s 38th-minute corner from the left found Brandt at the near post and the Germany international out-leaped substitute Jan Buerger to nod in.
Dortmund’s advantage was erased seven minutes into the second half when Koulierakis chose the perfect moment to score his first goal for Wolfsburg, powering in a header from close range.
With 15th-placed Wolfsburg only a few minutes away from securing a precious point, Dortmund produced a silky winner after Guirassy capped good play by Felix Nmecha and Fabio Silva.
The Guinean supplied a fine left-footed finish in the 87th minute to ensure it was a winning return to his former club for Dortmund coach Kovac.
This also proved a pivotal day in the battle for Bundesliga survival as well as the fight for the coveted top-four places.
St. Pauli, whose last win was before the winter break, hosted fourth-placed Stuttgart, who hadn’t lost in the league since a 5-0 home drubbing by Bayern on December 6.
Daniel Sinani’s clever dummy wrong-footed the Stuttgart defense and the loose ball was lashed in from the edge of the box by Manolis Saliakis for the opener on 35 minutes.
Things got even better for St. Pauli 10 minutes after the break when Sinani slotted home from the penalty spot to make it 2-0 after a VAR review confirmed a handball against Chris Fuehrich.
Stuttgart pulled one back through Jamie Leweling in the last minute but it was too little too late as goal-shy St. Pauli clawed themselves to within touching distance of the teams above them, despite remaining 17th.
St. Pauli’s city rivals Hamburg also picked up a precious three points, winning their first game on the road this season at 2-0 bottom-placed Heidenheim.
Mainz recorded yet another victory, this time a 2-0 win over Augsburg, in their remarkable turnaround under Swiss strategist Urs Fischer, who has guided Mainz from the bottom of the table to 13th in a matter of weeks.
Nadiem Amiri scored both goals from the spot, each side of the interval, to make it four wins in five ahead of a trip to Dortmund next weekend.
Werder Bremen were edged out by a sensational solitary strike by Freiburg’s Jan-Niklas Beste to extend their winless streak to 11 games.
Bremen’s losing run, the longest in the German top flight, resulted in coach Horst Steffen being relieved of his duties last week, with Daniel Thioune replacing him.
