England vs Greece LIVE: Nations League result and reaction as hosts concede calamitous late goal
England 1-2 Greece: Vangelis Pavlidis’ two goals secured all three points
England suffered their first defeat under Lee Carsley in a thrilling and frustrating encounter with Greece at Wembley. Having named an attacking and experimental line-up Carsley watched on in shock as his team were outclassed on the turf whilst struggling to utilise the talents of Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka in a coherent way.
The Greeks should have led at half-time. They had a goal disallowed after Jordan Pickford made some quickfire errors in an uncharacteristically nervous performance. They did lead just after the break with Vangelis Pavlidis weaving through three defenders to slot a low effort past the goalkeeper.
Two more disallowed goals for Greece tells the story of a shaky English defence that lacked substance. The progression nature of the full backs too often allowing space on the counter and leaving John Stones and Levi Colwill with too much to do. In the dying stages Jude Bellingham smoked in a rocket strike that almost nicked England a point.
The deciding moment though came to Pavlidis. England scrambled in the box once again and knocked the ball to the striker who took his chance and secured a first ever win against the Three Lions for Greece.
Relive the Nations League action with our live blog below:
England 0-1 Greece
72 mins: A long ball comes over the top and finds Jude Bellingham. He has a quick glance at the goalkeeper then looks to lob Vlachodimos from range and gets it all wrong.
The chances goes begging for England and Bellingham knows that was the wrong decision.
England 0-1 Greece
69 mins: Greece send a corner into the box that Bellingham and Madueke deal with. The visitors recycle the ball and whip it back into the box where Jordan Pickford again fumbles an attempted clearance.
It’s been a night to forget for the England No.1.
England 0-1 Greece
66 mins: Carsley is trying to be proactive. He’s issuing orders and instructions from the manager’s box and trying to keep the energy levels up.
England’s performance has just been flat throughout the game.
England 0-1 Greece
63 mins: Can England recover from this position? Under Gareth Southgate there would be a confidence in the team that they were never out of the game.
Is that same belief there under Lee Carsley?
With Watkins on the pitch, there’s a more recognised shape to England with a central focal point. He’s already had one good chance, there’ll probably be another before full-time.
England 0-1 Greece
“OK, it can probably be said the experiment is on the brink of failure.
“It is right now on the brink of defeat, as Greece lead 1-0 after Vangelis Pavlidis's goal. He just managed to work his way through to finish in a way you might expect of a team with so few defensive players. Before getting into the tactical technical detail, it is worth recognising the sad emotion.
“The Greek players were in tears as they celebrated for former teammate George Baldock.
“They have been driven by emotion tonight, but also their focus and fine tactical set-up. Against that, England have looked so shapeless. Is that a surprise when the Premier League's most productive playmaker is used as a passing midfielder alongside Declan Rice?
“The team is actually so uninspiring - despite so much creativity in it - that it's hard not to at least muse whether Lee Carsley has picked an inverse Jose Mourinho-style team that is part political point. "This is the team you all wanted." Will people ask for all the stars again after this?
“It's almost like he went too far, giving far too much of the creativity that people craved after Gareth Southgate. England could suddenly do with some order.”
England 0-1 Greece
60 mins: An hour played at Wembley with England needing to find something special. Ollie Watkins almost brings it after getting played into the penalty area.
He strikes it strongly but smokes the first time shot over the crossbar!
England 0-1 Greece
58 mins: Lee Carsley makes his first tactical substitution with Ollie Watkins introduced to replace Anthony Gordon. That will give England a target to aim for in the forward line and the Aston Villa striker isn’t afraid to shoot.
Disallowed!
Greece score again after a long ball comes up to Koulierakis. He plays it inside to Pavlidis who carries the ball into the box and sets up a teammate to score.
Pavlidis was offside though and the flag is raised immediately.
England 0-1 Greece
55 mins: England are wobbling here. They don’t look comfortable at all defensively and Jordan Pickford is called into action to flap a shot away.
The pragmatism of the Gareth Southgate era is not at all on display tonight.
England 0-1 Greece
52 mins: With that goal, England have conceded for the first time under Lee Carsley. How will the manager repsond?
Bukayo Saka went down off the ball and had to be taken off the pitch. Noni Madueke is the man called on to replace him which shouldn’t affect the formation.
GOAL! England 0-1 Greece (Pavlidis, 49’)
49 mins: That’s a cracking goal!
England are all at sea at the back as Greece pile the pressure on. Konstantinos Koulierakis drives down the inside left channel before slipping it to Vangelis Pavlidis.
He weaves in between three English defenders then curls a low effort past Jordan Pickford into the back of the net!
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