Lee Carsley’s chances of becoming Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor as England boss received a major blow as Greece paid tribute to George Baldock with a historic 2-1 Nations League win.
Carsley opened his interim reign with promising victories against the Republic of Ireland and Finland, but his bold, attack-minded selection came unstuck under the Wembley arch.
The former midfielder played five attackers but no out-and-out striker without injured Harry Kane and the visitors capitalised on a disjointed display, with boos greeting the final whistle after Vangelis Pavlidis scored a stoppage-time winner – his second of the night – shortly after Jude Bellingham looked to have saved their blushes.
Greece’s first win against England came at the 10th attempt and was all the more impressive given the heartbreaking build-up to Thursday’s Group B2 encounter.
The death of Buckingham-born Greece international Baldock at the age of 31 was announced on the eve of the game, with Wembley falling silent to remember the former Sheffield United full-back.
Pavlidis pointed to the black armband everyone wore after finding space to slam home an opener that had been coming against Carsley’s alarmingly incoherent side, whose focus on their attacking threat left them exposed at the back.
Greece had three goals ruled out for offside against an England team that struggled to create clear-cut chances on an evening that ended with Bellingham slamming home a leveller before Pavlidis’ late strike.
Matheus Nunes’ stoppage-time strike sealed Manchester City a potentially crucial win against top-five rivals Aston Villa as the quest for Champions League qualification intensifies.Neither side could afford a slip-up on Tuesday as the FA Cup semi-finalists sought to head to Wembley on the back of an important result in the battle to reach European football’s top table.Marcus Rashford l...
Nuno Espirito Santo acknowledged no one at Nottingham Forest expected to be third in April but backed his team to embrace the challenge after they started a huge week with victory at Tottenham.Forest had slipped to sixth in the Premier League after weekend wins for Champions League qualification rivals Manchester City, Chelsea and Aston Villa, yet responded with aplomb in the capital.Early efforts...
Chris Wood’s 19th goal of the season fired Nottingham Forest back up to third in the Premier League with a 2-1 win at Tottenham.Forest had slipped to sixth after the weekend’s results, but Nuno Espirito Santo savoured a sweet three points against old club Spurs after early goals from Elliot Anderson and Wood in the capital.It brought Ange Postecoglou’s team back down to earth aft...
Leeds boss Daniel Farke saluted his players for holding their nerve after a 6-0 home win against Stoke helped seal promotion back to the Premier League.Joel Piroe scored four goals, including Leeds’ fastest-ever league hat-trick, with strikes in the sixth, eighth and 20th minutes and added his fourth before half-time after Junior Firpo had put Farke’s side 4-0 up in 26 minutes.Willy Gn...
Burnley captain Josh Brownhill sent the Clarets back into the Premier League with both goals in a 2-1 win over Sheffield United that also saw Leeds promoted and left the Blades relying on the play-offs.Scott Parker made it three promotions with three different clubs in the space of six seasons as Burnley extended their unbeaten league run to a club-record 31 games, bouncing straight back to the Pr...
Burnley captain Josh Brownhill joked the Clarets had “bored our way to the Premier League” after a 2-1 win at home to Sheffield United confirmed their return to the top flight at the first attempt.Scott Parker’s side have conceded just 15 goals in 44 matches and victory over their promotion rivals ensured they could not be caught with two matches remaining.“I’m speech...
West Brom have announced the departure of Tony Mowbray after the club’s play-off hopes were all-but ended by a 3-1 Championship defeat at home to relegation-threatened Derby.The visitors twice punished the Baggies from set-piece situations when Ebou Adams and Jerry Yates struck from corners in the first half.Adam Armstrong’s goal halved the deficit and made for a nervy final 20 minutes...
Ian Holloway emphasised his pride in his resurgent Swindon side, despite Will Wright’s own goal against Bromley ending their slim play-off hopes.Danny Imray nutmegged Tom Nichols on the byline and fired a low ball into the box which bounced off the hapless defender’s shin in the 88th minute, condemning the Robins to a 1-0 loss.Kabongo Tshimanga had earlier missed a first-half penalty f...
Grant McCann admitted the task ahead for him is to keep his players calm after Doncaster put themselves within touching distance of promotion with a 3-0 win over Colchester.Goals from Harry Clifton, Jordan Gibson and Patrick Kelly saw Rovers power into top spot in League Two.It means a victory over promotion rivals Bradford this weekend will see them promoted to League One but McCann is determined...
Leeds boss Daniel Farke saluted four-goal Joel Piroe after his side thrashed Stoke 6-0 at Elland Road to stand on the brink of Premier League promotion.Piroe fired Leeds’ fastest-ever league hat-trick with strikes in the sixth, eighth and 20th minutes and added his fourth before half-time after Junior Firpo had put Farke’s side 4-0 up in 26 minutes.Willy Gnonto headed Leeds’ sixt...
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