England seal Nations League promotion with five-star display against 10-man Ireland

England gained promotion back to League A in the UEFA Nations League as Lee Carsley wrapped up his spell as interim head coach with a 5-0 win over 10-man Republic of Ireland.

Anthony Gordon Conor Gallagher, Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis scored their first international goals as The Three Lions cruised to an easy win after a frustrating opening period.

England found it difficult to break down Ireland’s defence in the first half, with the main talking point from the opening 45 minutes being whether the visitors deserved a penalty when Kyle Walker pulled down Sammie Szmodics.

The hosts finally broke the deadlock in a vastly contrasting second half and scored three goals in five minutes after Liam Scales was shown a red card for his foul on Jude Bellingham to concede a penalty, which Harry Kane converted with conviction.

England quickly doubled their lead when Gordon volleyed home his club team-mate Tino Livramento’s cross, before Conor Gallagher stabbed home from close range for a third.

Jarrod Bowen came off the bench and scored with his first touch to put the hosts further ahead, before Harwood-Bellis directed a header beyond Caoimhin Kelleher to cap off a memorable night.

Former Ireland international Carsley has completed his England assignment. He took over the reins while the FA found a successor to Gareth Southgate, and in the process, catapulted The Three Lions back to the top tier of Nations League football.

He has already made life easier for incoming head coach Thomas Tuchel by avoiding the Nations League promotion play-off in March, and now the German can concentrate on World Cup qualification when he begins his post in January.

Not only has Carsley avoided the unwanted ties, but he has bedded in some fresh talent, bolstering the depth Tuchel will have to work with. He handed out eight debuts during his six games in charge, including Harwood-Bellis and Livramento on Sunday.

Bellingham thought he had done enough to end a barren goal drought of his own in Athens when his strike crashed off the post and hit the goalkeeper before trickling in, but he took the assist and grabbed two more at Wembley to set up Bowen and Harwood-Bellis.

The 21-year-old was one of the few players considered a starter who did not pull out of the squad, despite Madrid’s injury troubles in a difficult time of the season for the Liga side.

England: Pickford 7, Livramento 7, Walker 7, Guehi 8, Hall 7, Gallagher 8, Jones 7, Madueke 7, Bellingham 9, Gordon 7, Kane 7

Subs: Harwood-Bellis 7, Rogers 6, Bowen, Solanke 6

Ireland: Kelleher 4, O’Shea 5, McGuinness 5, Collins 6, Scales 4, O’Dowda 5, Ebosele 6, Cullen 6, Molumby 6, Szmodics 6, Ferguson 6

Subs: Parrott 6, Moran 6, Azaz 6, Manning 6, McAteer 6

37’ – IRELAND WANT A PENALTY – Szmodics and Walker battle for a dangerous ball which has been clipped over the top of the English defence, but Walker looks to get there first and the referee waves it away.

51’ – ENGLAND PENALTY AND IRELAND ARE DOWN TO 10! This game has turned on its head in the blink of an eye. Bellingham brings down an insane ball over the top from Kane excellently, takes a touch inside and shifts past Liam Scales in the box, who trips the Real Madrid man.

53’ – GOAL!!! – ENGLAND 1-0 IRELAND (KANE PENALTY): Kane steps over the ball…. and unlocks the door! The Bayern Munich striker smashes the spot kick past Kalleher and England finally break the deadlock!

56’ – GOAL!!! – ENGLAND 2-0 IRELAND (GORDON): Gordon doubles England’s lead with his first international goal! Livramento’s cross from the right isn’t great, but Ireland fail to deal with and the ball falls to Gorson who sends it flying past Kelleher with a fierce volley.

58’ GOAL!!! – ENGLAND 3-0 IRELAND (GALLAGHER): Ireland have crumbled. Guehi glances a header from a corner to the back post where Conor Gallagher is free to stab the ball home.

78’ – GOAL!!! – ENGLAND 4-0 IRELAND (BOWEN): Bowen scores with his first touch and he too gets his first international goal! It comes from a free-kick on the left, which Bellingham laid off for Bowen to strike first time and the West Ham man made no mistake as he blasted it past Kelleher. One touch, one goal!

79’ – GOAL!!! – ENGLAND 5-0 IRELAND (HARWOOD-BELLIS): This is turning into a fun night! Harwood-Bellis scores on his debut with a brilliant header!

• England beat Ireland for the third time in succession for the first time.
• England’s 5-0 win over Republic of Ireland is their biggest margin of victory in a match that was 0-0 at half-time.